How Poetry Can Change Your Heart

But a person whose heart has been changed by poetry will tell you poetry is the key that unlocks a door you never knew was shut.

Poetry is the passport that proves we are, all of us, citizens of the world, and through poetry we can even heal that world.

Maybe it was the literary equivalent of warm milk, lulling you to sleep.

We live in a culture that oppresses feelings (or, rather, depresses and buries them in work, to-do lists, social media, intoxicants of our choice, etc.), which can actually lead to depression. Ayurvedic medicine suggests the root of disease is often undigested emotion.

“I want to throw a party for the heartbreak that turned you into a poet.”
—MINDY NETTIFEE

Science supports that reading books (as opposed to those pesky screens of junk light) has great benefits for the mind. Hallelujah!

cell phone––but many studies have illuminated that smartphone dependence leads to anxiety and mood disorders, sleep disturbances, stress level and chronic pain increases, relationship problems, and more

There isn’t anyone in the world who doesn’t write things that don’t suck ever.

Your favorite poet has awful drafts and bizarre metaphors too. They just don’t publish those, so we don’t see them, and then we put the poet on this writerly pedestal of not-sucking.

But it’s okay to suck sometimes. Your failure is encouraged. It means you tried.