006
“Beyond the difficulty of communicating oneself, there is the supreme difficulty of being oneself. This soul, or life within us, by no means agrees with the life outside us…Let us simmer over our incalculable cauldron, our enthralling confusion, our hotch-potch of impulses, our perpetual miracle—for the soul throws up wonders every second. Movement and change are the essence of our being; rigidity is death; conformity is death: let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fantastic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says”
Only by listening to yourself can you get to know yourself and be happy with who you are. But, there can be so much fear in not being uniform, straight out of the educational and societal production line. There is so much pressure to dim your voice and to conform—the unthinking, unfeeling, un-living are rewarded while dissenters are criticised, rejected, judged, marginalised and punished by those who are most invested or most in need of a uniform. Don’t cower from being yourself. Let yourself be known, which by consequence, will make you independent, non-conforming and alive.
005
“I believe in the forest, and the meadow, and the night in which the corn grows”
It is only when the sun goes down, in our quieter and darker moments, that transformation becomes possible—like corn, we are creatures that grow in the dark. Don’t be scared of the dark—as Rebecca Solnit says, ‘it’s where all the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go’. The dark is full of many possibilities; leave room for the unknown.
004
The word heretic has its etymology in Ancient Greek, hairetikos, which is to be “able to choose” and haireo “I choose”. The Christian heretics saw Eve not as an evil sinner but a liberator from paradise and the illusion of perfection. It is only outside of Eden that humans need to wrestle with morality, ethics, and society and realise our own humanity in the struggle of an imperfect world. In our homogenised, globalised world that loves to remove complexity, to speak of care, diversity, and being our spontaneous, true selves is a form of heresy. As Jane Ellen Harrison says—a classical scholar during Virgina Woolf’s time—‘To be a heretic today is almost a human obligation’.
003
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think”
People can be silent because of unspeakable suffering. Silent because of being silenced, marginalised, bullied, or shamed. A fair world is one where everyone has a voice and is heard; everyone has a song to sing, a story to tell. Be brave. Take one step beyond trauma and self-consciousness and start to sing your songs—sad songs, joyful songs, angry songs, sorrowful songs, longing and heartbreak songs—not worrying about who hears or what they think. Speaking is an act of freedom.
002
“Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock”
Poetry is the expression of our humanity. When we are reminded of our humanity, we wake up—come alive, open to beauty, compassion, kindness, benevolence toward ourselves, our fellow citizens of earth, and all living creatures. Poetry lives inside each of us. Can you hold onto your humanity—the poem of you, even under pressure or struggle?
001
“A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feelings through words. This may sound easy. It isn’t.
A lot of people think or believe or know they feel—but that’s thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling—not knowing or believing or thinking.
Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you’re a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself.
To be nobody-but-yourself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting”
Can you be with your feelings? Do you let your friends, social pressure, partner, parents, or colleagues invalidate or discredit your feelings? Do you stand by what you know, what you see, what you hear? Do you trust your experiences? Can you find one moment a day that you can be nobody-but-yourself?