Why I Write Poetry

In more recent years I have become much more contemplative. I have always had a curious mind, even at a young age, but right now my mind is full of doubts, worries, concerns, dreams, existential questions, and more.

But what does this all have to do with poetry? Well, we'll get to that. But let's start at the beginning, how did it all start?

Many years ago when I got my first guitar and began to write music for the very first time, I quickly realised that some of the songs that I wrote did not fit the usual convention for a song. I knew that this did not particularly matter, as there are many artists who do not conform to the standard, expected formats, but I could not turn these particular lyrics into full songs, it was as though something was wrong, or missing.

So I pushed all of those "songs" to one side, and figured I would come back to them one day. I do not recall what prompted me to start writing poetry, or why I returned to those "songs" and turned them into poetry, but I know that my poetry came from songwriting, and that these two passions of mine shared a link.

Typically my ideas for poems simply come to me at random. I used to try very hard to write poetry from scratch, but I realised after awhile that these poems were awful. So after some time I decided to only write poems when good ideas came to me, or when my emotions became overwhelming, and I needed a place to vent.

Which brings me to the key point I wanted to discuss in this blog post. I feel that the best songs, poems, and art is created from emotion. When I am at my worst, when I am depressed, angry, frustrated, or whatever, I feel as though my best work is created.

I feel this way because when I look at the words I have written when I am calm, I realise that they are real. They are not forced, and they come straight from the heart. They are relatable, and perhaps useful to other people. Like maybe it's good to know that you are not the only person that feels this way, and that you are not losing your mind, and that life is simply full of highs and lows.

I write poetry because I love it, because I am passionate about it, and I write it to make make myself feel whole. It's my form of therapy. I can get rid of the negative energy, and I can celebrate the positive energy too. Everything is there, my heart is there. Poetry is my way of healing.