Seeing Your Life as a Poem
by Rhoda WallerWhen I was twelve years old I made the decision to live my life as a poet. I imagined myself in Paris where, undaunted by bohemian poverty, I would be surrounded by fascinating artist friends and would spend my time writing poems and reading them by candlelight to attentive audiences. In many ways this dream became my reality, although my home would be in Greenwich Village rather than Paris, and the journey would have many unforeseen turnings. For me, the poet.s life was to include spiritual seeking and social activism, but it was not until twenty-five years later that I found my calling, as a poet/teacher. Offered the opportunity to teach in the wonderful New York State Poets-in-the-Schools program, I began conducting poetry workshops with children from first grade through high school, and later held a residency with the Central Park Conservancy, where I conducted intergenerational nature poetry workshops in the Park.
For the last twelve years I have been sharing the gift of poetry in senior centers, retirement communities, libraries and other venues for elders. Most recently I have worked in the New York City boroughs of Queens and the South Bronx, in neighborhoods of wide ethnic and economic diversity. Freed from the constraints of providing for themselves and their families, the elders in these writing workshops experience a great flowering of creativity, either studying poetry as a new activity, or returning to artistic endeavors put aside long ago. As the reading and writing of poetry is in itself a contemplative experience, it enables us to access our deepest levels of thought and feeling, encouraging us to live more intensely and experience more fully. With open minds and hearts, these writers explore their lives through their poetry, celebrating the unique and precious moments of the present, considering the meaning of their individual and shared pasts.
There are other benefits as well. Elders, particularly those in their late eighties and nineties, often find that they have outlived their spouses and many of their close friends. The deep sharing that we value may no longer be available to them. The poetry workshops provide opportunity to create again such bonds of heart, mind and spirit, transforming a sense of isolation into a feeling of connection in warm, supportive community. Extending this bond into the wider world, participants read their work on a regular basis at various celebrations and events at their senior centers, and have created bulletin boards where their writing is displayed on a weekly basis. They also offer readings at hospitals and homes for the chronically ill and disabled.
To continue and expand this work, in 1996 I founded Timelines Community Inc., a not-for-profit tax-deductible organization. Timelines Community edits, publishes and distributes Traces, a journal of poems, memoirs, stories and artwork created by elders. We also produce individual memorial books, a selection of the autobiographical writings of the writer being honored. Each of these memorial books celebrates and clarifies the richness and meaning of the individual life journey, and reveals the unique beauty and mystery of each writer.s personality.
Four years ago, I read From Aging to Sage-ing, and recognized the Spiritual Eldering work as a natural expansion of the work I had been doing. Now, as a Certified Seminar Leader, I integrate poetry into all my Sage-ing® workshops, extending the gift even further.
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