Spiritual Inspiration

Without entering into a lengthy and probably controversial discussion of spirituality or beliefs, I want to discuss how I have been inspired and share some of my writing with you.  

My spirituality or feelings of connection with my God come at times when I am contemplative, under stress, relaxed or are unexpected.  During some of these times I find myself talking to him and even creating something in my mind.  Do you know those times when words just start to form and you have to write them down, those times when you are talking out loud to yourself?  Those are the times when I know I am being inspired to write.  So, I write.

Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly what was going on in my life when I wrote this, but I called it 'A Psalm' for a reason.  When I was first discovering my faith as a Christian, I read the Psalms A LOT!  I connected to them because they are poems, song lyrics, direct messages to God.  I wanted to have (and still want to have) a directed link to God.  David wrote many of the psalms as his expressions of great emotions toward God.  Sometimes he was angry, sometimes he doubted, sometimes he expressed deep faith and love.  The overall feeling of this psalm is a desire for connection, not wanting to be left behind or forgotten.  I can see a strong desire for hope and belonging.  Also, I believe that I needed spiritual strengthening.

A Psalm

By Kimberly L McClune, January 18, 2013

Diffused light from the bright morning star

Emanates through a maze of frosted branches.

Fingers of illumination pattern the blue tinted ground.

A glowing countenance gracefully peers from beyond

Bearing a measure of hope to my longing my soul.

Oh, light that brings peace and love

Renew my spirit, fill the depths of my soul!

Shine your light in and through me.

Reveal your truth to my hardened heart.

Shower me with fulfillment and joy!

Do not deny a weakened spirit.

Open a portal to the inner sanctuary

Hardened by disappointment and fear.

Pour out your soothing balm to cleanse

And heal the wounds left by an ordinary life.

Oh, mighty and righteous giver of peace,

Wondrous lover of needy and aching hearts,

Let your love reign in my gasping soul,

Lift up my wounded spirit,

Wash me clean of all wrongdoing.

Heavy heart, wounded and sore

Hold fast to that one remaining thread of hope.

Don’t loose your grip, but cling to it

As if nothing in the world can move you.

For this is the path to enlightenment.

Hope does not fail, love does not leave

Peace is never far away.

All around are signs of faith and healing.

Open the heart, the mind and the spirit

And all shall enter in, together at last.

Whether you are Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or have any other faith, we can all relate to similar spiritual needs.  We want the belonging and the comfort of a faith in something greater than ourselves.  I encourage you to embrace your spirituality as it relates to writing and see what you come up with when you bring the two together.  Writing as an expression of yourself, for some, is the only way to write.  For others, writing can be a way to escape yourself.  

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.