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by Robert M. Johnson (Author)
The treasures of our life can be identified by what they bring of truth and goodness, of pleasure, satisfaction and creativity. We face in the course of any day a multitude of circumstances that we can turn into meaning and value. As we look at the circumstances and the environment in which we find ourselves, a moment of vision happens. Through vision we have internalized and assimilated its richness. We own the vision of happening, the moment is ours. Poetry is the discourse at this apex of vision. The poet in each of us is able to turn the greatest of our life circumstances into the fiber of our meaning. Moment by moment this process is our greatest asset for happiness. Consequently, poetry is something to be cultivated every day of our life. As athletes train for the field of sport, so we are trained by poetry for the field of action. The poetry in us finds the layers of truth hidden in the happenings of each day. Truth is more complex and rich than we allow, and it is up to us to perceive the subtleties of these layers through the filters of poetic insight. The filter of insight is the poetic gift, it is the ability to look at life situations and see in those situations the potential, the becoming. In fact, life is much more than we can imagine, giving us numerous options in all the events of this day, this week, this month, and this year. We are challenged to pay attention, to truly observe what is happening around us. The poet is someone who is obsessed with being here, not with tunnel vision, but awakened to what might be, what has been, what will be. This requires the mindfulness of full mental health, and brings with it true happiness. Life is a posturing, it is an awareness of this moment, a sense of the fullness we stand before. What we do with this fullness depends on our perception of its depth, its breadth, its horizons, and the many purposeful things that can be derived from this moment in time. We are constantly telling the story of our life as reinvented by this moment in time. Life is always going forward, never back. Reading poetry is re-living this vision of fullness. Like the athlete practicing, the musician doing drills, the reader of poetry is refining the basic skills of insight. A poem is not a "figuring out," but instead, a "going within." It is a portal of insight that guides the mind into the riches of time. The poem activates those powers of the mind that are both pleasurable and transformative. In the play of words, the tone, the rhythms, a poem touches the depths of the intuitive mind, the mind of the child within. It is this deeper mind that brings fulfilment, satisfaction and happiness to life's daily experiences. One word encapsulates this process and gives it meaning: ENJOY
