Tag: businessinrhyme

Will poetry make you any smarter or wiser?

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

dead-poets-society

Few nights ago, almost after 20 years I watched “Dead poets society” movie again. Having poetry as  my regular friend and companion sheds completely new light not only on the understanding of the movie itself, but on the distance I made from a person I used to be to a person I believe I am today.  When I first watched movie, it was more interesting from a teenage point of view – I was in high school and it was amusing to relate to main characters’ early adolescent ups and downs. I certainly don’t attempt to analyze the movie here, but two main messages stuck to my mind after the second watch: how poetry so beautifully offers that different perspective, seeing world from another angle, through different color of lenses, walk in the shoes that can be too tight and make blisters or two big that make us feel clumsy and insecure.

But that is the only truth that exists – there is not only one truth and one reality. You can taste life on many levels and interpret events in endless ways. Poetry acts here as kind of a shortcut to that realization. And once you become aware (which leads me to the second message) is that it somehow gives you a wind in a back, a reassurance that it is OK not to conform; it is OK step out of typical societal expectations.

Will poetry make you any smarter or wiser? It’s hard to say 🙂 But it will help you realize that there is something else, different. It will help you to seize the possibilities and easier to recognize your own capabilities. It’s like sampling life experiences and choosing what you want for yourself.

Each poem is a story, a snapshot of life in particular place and moment in time. You are that third variable, invaluable ingredient that transcends unique experience – both as a writer and reader. Being present with the poem is allowing it to really consume your whole being and from there magic happens – it does have the power to give you strength and courage to enter that different reality. All you need is to let yourself surrender.

I want to once more emphasize that this is not my analyzes and critique on poetic, artistic or emotional value of the movie – merely my thoughts on poetry inspired by it.

For the end of this post I would like to share with you poem by Wisława Szymborska where she so eloquently expresses the uncertainty of our perceived reality and human nature in general. As we are connected but individual, each experience is unique, but universal. Each life is special and so ordinary in the same time.

Could Have

It could have happened.
It had to happen.
It happened earlier. Later.
Nearer. Farther off.
It happened, but not to you.

You were saved because you were the first.
You were saved because you were the last.
Alone. With others.
On the right. The left.
Because it was raining. Because of the shade.
Because the day was sunny.

You were in luck—there was a forest.
You were in luck—there were no trees.
You were in luck—a rake, a hook, a beam, a brake,
a jamb, a turn, a quarter inch, an instant.
You were in luck—just then a straw went floating by.

As a result, because, although, despite.
What would have happened if a hand, a foot,
within an inch, a hairsbreadth from
an unfortunate coincidence.

So you’re here? Still dizzy from another dodge, close shave, reprieve?
One hole in the net and you slipped through?
I couldn’t be more shocked or speechless.
Listen,
how your heart pounds inside me.

Wisława Szymborska

If you liked this post, please share. And, if you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Quick publishing update

by Maja Todorovic, posted in My personal rhyme - from time to time

Today, several of my poems have been published on http://www.versewrights.com.

That Moment

Do you
remember the day
when Earth sweat and
invisible drops exchanged scorching kisses.
It wasn’t ash – rather
a numbing substance
we prayed for:
and your eyes became stars again.
(for more click here.)

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Poetic inspiration: Poetry is Art

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Poetic inspiration

poetry_art

Reading poetry is rather to ‘feel’ than

understand it. Once we accept that as a fact –

then poem becomes piece of art

we appreciate in a whole

different way.

Maja S. Todorovic

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

6 savvy ways to fulfill your writing goals

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites
 writing_goals

As we’ve already entered the nanowrimo writing month, many of you’ve probably committed to this writing goal which is not easy to achieve. There are many strategies you can employ in order to do that. I particularly in this article shared some of the tips how to stay on the top of your creativity during the day and how to find time for writing in our hectic lives. Today I will share some additional tricks that occasionally have helped me to sustain with my writing and get things done.

  1. Write down your goal

Instead of just thinking about your goal, write it down. Write in bold and strong letters what is it you want to achieve. Write it on a card that you can place in your wallet and see it frequently or make a screensaver for your phone and computer where would popup randomly as a reminder. Once you write your goal down and read it several times a day, you are stating and giving life to what you want to do. It becomes an ingrained part of your thinking and subconsciously you are already pushing things towards fulfilling your set intention.

  1. Set achievable benchmarks

If your goal is writing 50 000 words in 30 days, it does look and sound scary. But we must keep in  mind that most of our goals are comprised of smaller doable steps. We don’t have to know everything at the beginning of our writing journey. For us is important to break our desired milestone in daily benchmarks and work from there. In this case, you might set your writing goals to achieving writing 1500 and 1700 words a day. You can continue to cut it in even smaller chunks, like writing 500 words in the morning, afternoon and evening. Some days you will write more or less, but this benchmarks are a great way for you to follow your progress.

  1. Meditate towards writing

Besides having enough time, finding concentration and focus are additional factors that contribute to achieving our writing goals. We need to free our minds of cluttering thoughts and useless information in order to stimulate creativity. One good habit to practice is to set a side 5 to 10 minutes for peaceful meditation that will help you get in the writing mode. Sit comfortably, with your both feet placed firmly on the ground with spine, neck and head aligned and simply begin to breathe in rhythmical motions. Think of what you would like to write, what is that part of the story that simply needs to be to told, that has to get out of you.

In the beginning you might struggle and feel uncomfortable, but if you trust the process and continue to practice, you will find ideas coming easily to you, your writing will become more consistent and less stressful.

  1. Use writing prompts to stir up your imagination

Use writing prompts into your advantage to stir your thinking and help you get started with writing. It doesn’t matter if they have nothing to do with your writing theme – use them to break the initial barriers for writing and spark ideas for your story or other written assignment.

  1. Use available non-writing tools

This has become quite handy in my case. Many times, during walk, shopping or commute I get an idea which I can easily forget if I’m in distracting environment (like street or train). I don’t have always an opportunity to write them down, so than I try to use voice recorder (that I believe most of smart phones have today) to do the work for me. It can be just a phrase, or few words that will be my reminder for the initial idea, poem or story plot.

  1. Celebrate your achieved goals.

Think of interesting  and fun ways you will reward yourself after achieving desired goals. As you walk each step on your writing journey, remember your vision and how it will make you feel once you hit the biggest benchmark – like writing 50 000 words in 30 days. Sustain that emotion during the writing process and use it as motivational fuel each time you feel discouraged or lack inspiration. You are your best support and biggest writing fan. You deserve it.

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Poetic inspiration: You say, you lack idea…

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Poetic inspiration, Writer's creative bites

idea_writing_inspiration

for writing. Well, look

how many syllables I have spilled here.

Now, arrange them in your own order! 🙂

Maja S. Todorovic

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Spice up your writing with ‘upgraded’ found poetry (creative writing exercise)

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate: exercises, Writer's creative bites

stevejobs

Creating and being creative are certainly two conditions similar, but not the same. Creating is often related to producing something new, innovative, while being creative is often referred to being able to observe two, three or more unrelated objects and connect them in a new way, thus eventually producing something new.

So today’s exercise is while having a broader writing prompt, also an opportunity to practice being creative, where poetry can be a wonderful tool to use.

For example, pick your three favorite poems, from three different authors – the best is if the poems are thematically different (but doesn’t have to be) and ask yourself, what do they have in common? The more challenging this is, the more creative you’ll have to be with your writing and create  a new poem. But instead of just creating found poem, go a step further: use these three poems just as a starting canvas for your new writing where you will try to revive the initial feelings that made you love those poems in the first place. Find that image in your mind that emulates the experience you had while reading those poems and portrait that image in your new poem.You can use some stanzas in your writing or you can just refer to those poems as a starting point – it’s up to you.

I’ve chosen excerpts from the following that are quite dark, sensual and haunting – perfect for the Halloween warm-up 😉

This Is A Photograph Of Me by Margaret Atwood

It was taken some time ago
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you can see something in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or how small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion.

but if you look long enough
eventually
you will see me.) 

There Are Intersections… by Joyce Mansour

There are intersections where the night

The joy jumps on the back

Of the passerby

Such the lonely dawn in the acid wind

The decapitated dies standing up

Below

Body to body in the mud

Teeming furnace

The worms

Whips with triple straps

Caress the tip of the roots

Of flesh

Meat of sacrifice

Gem of the putrefaction

With no burden other than its arms

Tied elbow to elbow

Behind

Bundles of blood on the promised land

Thunderbird Motel by Kelly Boyker

There is no place to drown here, so instead
we take turns suffocating each other with pillows
going just a little longer each time.
I am already rehearsing my speech to the manager,
already placing the ice cubes in my mouth
hoping they melt before the maid wheels her cart into our room.

 My ‘upgraded’ found poem:

There is no place to drown here,

yet if you do leave a lonely dawn to live

melting ice cubes will form a lake,

with muddy intersections

where worms eat the roots

of the acid wind with joy.

The center of the picture,

photograph carved in the land halfway up of
a gentle
slope,

is the blooded pillow I dived in, absorbing my mute speech.

Body to body

elbow to elbow

awaken city of your sensual thoughts

culminates in this subsided, heavy roar of

broken eternity –

resistance takes place,

like gem of the putrefaction,

distortion of time

in the tied flesh of the watery space.

This is a wonderful exercise as it teaches you to connect things in different relations and helps you evoke that emotional response you need to fuel your creative writing. I was always somehow amazed with the topics of loneliness, isolation, mysterious and esoteric, always being different and not falling into patterns of societal stereotypes (which partially explains my selection of poems). And it is one of my driving creative forces – exploring and going beyond the given boundaries and prejudices.

I simply love this exercise as it helps you literally to rewire the typical thinking of your brain and produce interesting moments in your creative writing. It’s super easy, doable anywhere you like it, and can keep you being proactive with your writing when you lack ideas or inspiration.

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Early autumn grapes

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, My personal rhyme - from time to time

They say, if your life

is too bitter then you crave sugar.

And I do remember the acerbity on my tongue

when my father told his diagnose: bladder cancer.

It was like someone filled my mouth with pile of old, rusty

coins and I couldn’t breathe, just in awe, with crucified

jaw I stared at the telephone.

 

My father soon got better,

yet my body had its own trouble digesting truth:

leaking gut poured all the bitterness of previous months’ uncertainty.

I began to grow sugars, tiny special sugars, cleverly hidden in the pores

of the synovial lakes and joint meanders.

 

These tiny special sugars, grow and mature

with each season, unharvested,

developing tear membranes,

disguised purple knots in my throat.

 

Involuntarily nerve-pulsating dreams remind me

how clumsy beginner I was.

Now, with years my skills improved:

I’ve learned with one hand to

keep my stomach intact,

with other to lift my neck

just enough to catch early autumn grapes

in my father’s vineyard,

to erase the bitterness from my head.

Maja S. Todorovic

If you liked this post, please share. And, if you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Hidden poetry gem: using power of language for improving persuasion skills

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

rumi_poetry

Have you ever wondered how some people have like magical power to persuade others in their point of view, that they somehow win every argument?

It’s not they always have all the knowledge or the wittiest and most cunning answer. They say the right words in right moment. Not too much, not too less, but right words. It’s like they are carrying around some sort of charisma that is attractive and appealing to people, which for sure is a first step of getting someone on your side – they first have to notice you and what it is that you have to say.

I also think that we often underestimate and neglect the power of language. Spoken language, written language, body language – they all tell a specific story and influence what kind of impact in any given situation we will make. Language is what connects us but also the tool we can use to emphasize our differences, values and reasons – using the tone and voice, language can also dictate ‘the tempo and intensity’ of conversation.

To improve our persuasive skills our language needs to be memorable, distinct, inspiring and supportive. I’ve already written how poetry attributes to leadership, but there are additional benefits that I want to draw your attention to.

I do believe that in some form of another we are all born poets – as we all use, make and create language. The key point here is how we use our language and in what purposes we are putting it in. And this is where poetry brings so much beauty and creativity.

Spending time reading and writing poetry is like training, having an exercise of your brain mussels where you sharpen your senses and you learn to pay closer attention; you slow down fast-paced thoughts and you are reshaping your mind for finding greater meanings as your ability for deep listening grows. You become more aware of weaknesses and virtues of human kind and with that understating, your language reflects that. Great influencers are known for their ability to connect with people on many different levels and poetry acts as a bridge across those barriers – it becomes easier for you to accentuate your message and value.

But most importantly you see yourself and value yourself differently. You start to recognize the areas of language you can express with greater clarity:

  • you find the meaning in having more alternatives;
  • you find ways to communicate your cause more effectively, creatively like using metaphors and similes to explain your point view.

In any given conversation poetry can act as an ice-breaker to lessen the tension and approach the subject with more ease:

  • Using poetic language can instill courage in conversation which is a catalyst for implementing change.
  • In brainstorming sessions can open the doors to hidden creativity, which is essential to innovation.
  • Poetry and art, in general, appeal to senses – which makes us more perceptive to risk taking, but also to strategically value situation.

Poetry, like language is ever-evolving and different, as each time we can perceive it differently. So are we, ever-adapting, by having trust in the change and confidence in the present moment able to reconcile any contrast within ourselves and our authenticity  speakes for us – everyone around is already convinced.

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest

breathing
like the ones
in the old stories

who could cross
a shimmering bed of dry leaves
without a sound,

you come
to a place
whose only task

is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests

conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and

to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,

questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,

questions
that have patiently
waited for you,

questions
that have no right
to go away.

David Whyte

If you liked this post, please share. And, if you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

Variegated

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, My personal rhyme - from time to time

It starts with a spot.

One tiny spot.

Soft and gentle,

red, transparent and liquidly

like a drip from a freshly

pressed strawberry juice.

 

The skin unveils the doors,

releases pressure

and suddenly I’m on the boat

the boat slightly gliding, swaying and my

head tilts to enjoy crimson landscape.

For a minute I think there is

a sunset, reflecting blushing chicks in the water.

Warmth tingles my eyes.

 

Finally I am wearing that red dress:

red dress made of pleats cascading over the stairs.

The stairs, neatly arranged blocks for kids

to jump, run with their tiny feet,

to scatter red petals and

peals of spring radishes.

 

The dress grew with each waterfall

and the breath, the breath is a

variegated butterfly trapped in the glass jar.

Maja S. Todorovic