Stress and Poetry

Certainly I'm not the only one who has read books on stress and tried many methods to reduce and deal with it.  On this lifelong journey, I have learned and also become more frustrated. 

Frustration:

Sometimes frustration comes when I feel I’ve conquered my stress then something changes causing more stress.  It’s also frustrating to know that I, myself, am the cause of much of my own stress.

Perhaps I’m not alone in these frustrations!?

Things I’ve Learned:

Many things have I learned in this process/journey thus far.  I’m trying to keep this part short so I’ll just give you two.  The first is that stress is always present in our lives.  The second is that we are each in control of the stress we encounter. 

Dealing with it:

Well, if stress is always present and we are in control of it, then where is the answer to my question of how to deal with, or reduce, it?  That’s next.

Poetry is one way that I deal with stress. 

Little phrases come to me out of the blue sometimes when I’m working out a problem or feeling stressed.  I try to write down these little tidbits.  Because they were born of my stress, I hang on to them and savor them, whether they’re good or bad. 

By doing this, I can see inside my stress which helps me process the cause of my stress.  Writing these thoughts down helps me peel away the emotional part and work on the intellectual part of a situation. 

Sometimes these little phrases become a story and sometimes a poem.  Regardless, they’re an expression of the emotion of my stress.  Releasing that allows me more energy for solving or dealing with the issue that plagues me. 

Here is an example of a poem written last fall that was born of a stressful time:

Thought-Less

Kimberly L McClune

September 29, 2014

Blank and silent

My empty brain lolls and sags

Lacking gumption to fight for thoughts

Disappearing in a foggy haze of forgotten people,

places and

things

Sullen and alone

Nothing enters and nothing leaves

Only a void where intelligence reigned

Distant memories of visions,

thoughts,

dreams and

ideas

Strapped in

Cornered in a lonely room

Scattered cobweb strewn furniture

Dusty pillows and torn drapes decorate the discarded dwelling

Barren synapses

Spark-less power outage

Brown-out,

black-out,

drained reserves

Beleaguered and neglected, non-existent cognitive activity

()()()

While this is a fairly solemn piece of writing, remember that it was born of my stress and was instrumental in helping me put aside the negative emotions so that I could work on solutions.

As unusual as this topic is for a poetry blog, I find that whatever brings me to writing is important in that process.  Therefore, I believe it may be important for others as well.  I hope you have enjoyed, or at least not turned away from, my blog.  Good day and keep writing, no matter why and no matter what.