Poetry Dowsing Week One

Last year I spent a lot of time joining various ‘challenges’ from Instagram, various websites I get emails from, Facebook etc. However I found that I was joining a lot of them, but a lot of the time not actually taking fully part in any of them. So one of my intentions I set for this year that I would stop spreading myself so thin and still join challenges etc that called, but just ONE at a time and fully focus on that one. So in December last year I saw that one of my favourite websites that isn’t social media Mookychick had an article up saying about a course/program for 12 weeks starting in January, that would be focusing on self care and filling our ‘creative well’, it resonated loudly and I knew this would be the first one of the year. As one of my other intentions of the year was to get a bit more back in touch with my creative side as well.

The course is called ‘Poetry Dowsing’ and is based on a book by Julia Cameron called ‘Finding Water’ , I haven’t read this particular book but have read other books by her and loved them. The good thing is Mookychick have made the course as such that it’s helpful if you have the book but you don’t have to have it. I don’t have it although I make a purchase later as I’m interested to read.

The premise is pretty simple. Each of the 12 weeks has a theme and an associated exercise. In each week you also do creative self care activities that Julia Cameron recommends (also in her book The Artist’s Way, which I have read several times). So everyday you do something called Morning Pages. Each morning you write 3 pages, of just whatever comes out basically. It works as a ‘brain dump’ if you like, kind of a release each morning before you settle into the rhythm of the day. This isn’t perfect writing by all means. It’s not even recommended you read them until the end of the 12 weeks. You also have at least one walk a week, wherever you like, for at least 30 minutes. The other thing is an ‘artist date’ once a week, you take yourself on a date once a week, doesn’t have to necessarily be creative but something that will bring you joy and potentially inspiration. Mookychick have kindly made some adjustments to these practices to be more inclusive, like mindfulness meditation instead of a walk if that’s not possible for you.

The first week was about Optimism. The task was to look for 5 beautiful things around you that week even if they were simple. The first week I was in the middle of moving house so it was quite difficult, but my 5 things were: the full moon, a white rose bouquet being carried on the tube, flowers in Morrisons, a little yellow flower outside a tall building and I saw a heart chalkboard that had been thrown into the rubbish outside a block of flats and found it beautiful somehow:

That week for my walk I simply walked to the nearby train station and back, and for my ‘date’- I had no time to go out of my own for anything so I made one of the adjustments suggested and simply looked through the Instagram of an artist I enjoy called Jessica Perlstein.

I thought there was something poetic about the heart in the bin, so already I had found some poetry with the ‘dowsing’! Here it is: (I shared this previous post as well but here it is again anyway)!

The heart cannot be thrown away
With all it’s marks and damage
You can try to ignore it
But the heart is solid
And will not simply go away
The heartbeat is always there ❤️
No matter how much your heart is breaking 💔
The heart is keeping you alive
Even when you feel like you’re dying inside
The beat goes on
In an eternal rhythm
Inside your heart
There is always hope
Hope for another day
The heart knows you will find another way
The heart cannot be thrown away
Whatever abuse you’ve suffered
The heart only knows love
And will love you no matter what
So trust the rhythm of your heart
Know that the clouds will pass
Even if it takes some time
Just listen to your heart
Beating no matter what happens
You cannot throw the heart away

I’m pretty proud of it! and looking forward to seeing any other inspiration that comes my way. I’m about midway through week 2 now, I will try to keep a record on here of how I’m getting on each week. If you fancy joining take a look here at the initial post on Mookychick. If you use Twitter they are sharing using hashtag #poetrydowsing I’m not on Twitter so just sharing any work here, Facebook and Instagram.

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