Tag: creativity

Kahlil Gibran’s timeless wisdom on the purpose of poetry and meaning of work

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

kahlil-gibran

Kahlil Gibran, born in Lebanon, was a poet, artist, philosophical essayist and a novelist,who emigrated to New York in 1885. His work, written both in Arabic and English was very much influenced by the European modernists of the nineteenth century, with deep mystical, philosophical and spiritual understanding of the world.

Gibran had simple, yet direct style and he used writing to liberate himself; to portrait immigrant life of his family and topics relating to alienation, disruption, industry that eats natural beauty – were often present in his work. For him, poetry was an ideal vehicle to transcend the feelings of emptiness, longing and a way to communicate most intimate desires:

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.

How we experience the world around us and allow our mind to make it’s on meaning and relations, that’s how our language is going to be:

All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.

He also recognized that without innate feeling and sense of love, all our efforts in any life direction are simply futile. In his, maybe the most popular piece “The Prophet” (1923) in 26 prose poems he discusses and shares his view  on most intriguing topics of human kind, ranging from marriage, laws and friendship to the meaning of work, punishment, pain and joy. Even though it wasn’t seen as a piece of distinct value among American critics, it achieved cult status among American youth for several generations.

For Gibran work equals love:

And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.

Once we fuel our work with passion and love, it’s much probable that we will achieve our goals. And there is nothing more joyful, than the alignment of our values, passions and purpose. Than work is not just work. It becomes eager part of life, intentional and deliberate living, bringing meaning to all aspects of our lives.

If you would like further to explore similar topics, I recommend:

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Results of NaPoWriMo experiment

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

The April month is over so is the napowrimo. I successfully went through, publishing every day a poem, along with all scheduled posts. Most of the poems were result of free-writing so I won’t go into the quality of writing, but there are other benefits that I noticed as a result of this frequent scheduled poetry scribble.

1.During the month I felt much more emotionally stable.

On a few occasions I had some difficult situations and even though I didn’t channel my stress through poetry, the actual act of writing was a great tool for me to divert my thoughts into something creative instead to rewind in my head something that is already in the past. It turned out to be a great mindfulness tool for me.

2. It made me productive in other areas as well.

When you do something you like, it really can fuel you with beautiful energy and gives you drive to get involved in other tasks. My working hours were joyes and filled with vigor to accomplish as much as I can.

3. I came up with ideas much easier.

Even though I didn’t use poetry as a brainstorming tool, I noticed I came up with new ideas with ease, without any struggle and doubt. It felt quite natural just to follow already ignited thoughts and that was the half of job done.

If you were participant in the NaPoWriMo, how that impacted your daily routine? Please share your experience and insights in the comments below.

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Are you losing readership? Probably you are making one of these 3 mistakes

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

NadineGordimer

When I was younger, I didn’t like very much to read. I liked books and I liked to collect them, but because of the nature of my studies and later my work, I was already so much time “wrapped” in books (researching specialized information) that I didn’t find any interest in spending my free time reading, again. 🙂 So, poetry and prose were not much on my reading menu. But while reading, what I liked the most is that I can search for targeted information whenever I need it and access it any time.

Now, with time my needs and wants changed. I do enjoy reading more poetry and prose. I find it relaxing and comforting. It enhances my writing, my creativity, my way of thinking and self-confidence, my knowledge of languages…the benefits are numerous. I still do search for certain information, relating to skills and knowledge I’m interest in, but the existence of Internet in last 20 years has changed that for us in many ways.

So, one of the reasons to see a decline in your reading stats might be:

1.You don’t know who are you writing for.

You need to know your audience; what are their needs and wants, because it changes with time and evolves. As a writer you need to be able to sense their reading pulse and offer types of information that will attract and intrigue them. Writing also means fostering a community, sharing mutual insights and experiences. This is the first thing that needs to be cleared up, and it will undoubtedly improve your writing too.

2. You don’t recognize the purpose of your writing.

Here, I mean you do need to have clearly defined  what kind of information you are offering; As I said, people do like targeted information, especially if you are a non-fiction writer. As a fiction writer do you have recognizable style, writing voice that your readers can relate to.

3. Your writing is more like ‘a stale pond’ instead of a ‘running river’.

What I mean is that do you offer fresh content on regular basis? Is your content related to contemporary topics and events that people are genuinely interested in?

Do you blindly follow one literary style or do you like to experiment? The point is even in the actual action of writing we do need to be somehow innovative and creative. You like haikus? Great! Next time try to write a longer story. Maybe you could share how actually you like writing short forms. Why? What is there that excites you? Believe it or not, your readers want to read that stuff as well. How do you create, what invigorates you. Share small pieces of you in new, affirmative ways and watch your audience grow.

Do you have any tips and tricks on attracting more readers? Please share in the comments below 🙂

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How to use poetry as a self-development tool

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

hafez

We all know how change can be scary, wanting from you to let go of your previous beliefs and habits and pushing you out of your comfort zone. It’s a work you have to do on your own and there is no right way on how to embrace change on your growth journey. I often like to say that we will meet success in life, once we are able to master ourselves.

What I mean by that?

Let me explain:

Becoming too much immersed and attached to our ego can transform into a real hinder and obstacle on our path of self-improvement. Once we are able to conquer our mind, the self-awareness of who we truly are begins to expand. The motivation and inspiration behind the process is unique, personal and for that purpose we can use variety of tools. Hence plain reading text-books and taking workshops will do little unless you become really motivated and inspired to take a leap towards positive change.Poetry can be noninvasive tool that in  one non-judgmental manner helps you improve your life. It can improve your creativity, decision-making and you can become even more empathetic. When you are inspired by the poetry you read, when you write your own thoughts, change occurs silently, unnoticeably removing fear, bringing maturity to personality at all levels. That’s why I think that it can be a better approach to self-development than reading self-help books and learning lessons like at school class.

Here are just few examples how you can use poetry for self-development purposes:

Find inspirational poems and read them as often as you can.

Select about 5-10 poems that you like and that really ‘speak’to your heart. They should be aligned with your personal goals and what you want to achieve in life.

Write them down in your notebook.

By writing down the words, it’s easier for words to enter your subconsciousness, you are giving them life.You are already creating new experience while connecting with the words in a meaningful way. You can also write down any new idea or comment that comes to your mind while reading the poems.

Find your own inspirational meaning.

Read your poems slowly, absorbing in every stanza. You can use those poems even for a meditation practice. Find most suitable interpretation behind the poet’s words that is motivational for you. You will be more open to what writer is trying to tell you and you will pave your own road towards achieving self-development goals.

Inspired by poems, develop your own affirmative sayings.

Affirmations are powerful way for us to take action. By repeating them we become more inclined to make a change – we will experience desired results only by taking timely inspired actions, where fear is replaced by curiosity about our own potentials and ego by desire to become a better person.

Life is like a sandwich!

Birth as one slice,
and death as the other.
What you put in-between
the slices is up to you.

Is your sandwich tasty or sour?

Allan Rufus

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