Ikigai Thought for Today: Sense Making
Of Poets and Poetry
Audio narration by David Marlow
I love good poetry because, in abstraction, poems say something in a short space, which is so compelling that it charges your creativity and imagination.
Poetry is sense-making in a marvelous form.
Here is one by Derek Walcott.
Ponder the theme at the heart of this marvelous poem.
🌀 Reflection:
🌱 What does this poem say about self-acceptance?
🌱 Why has the poet’s real self been hidden?
🌱 What is the symbolism in feasting on wine and bread?
🌱 Is there a connection to uncovering our essence in Ikigai?
This poem, and your prompt, are like a gift wrapped inside a gift. Since making is a close cousin to meeting making, which is a research proven component of neurological resilience. So just the practice of meaning making brings us back to a level of strength as a person. Then when we consider the subject of the poem, reflecting on our oldest and closest relationship, that with our self, forces us to look at where we've ben, how we've come through it, and why that gives us confidence toward a stable future again. Nurturing this relationship, be coming our own best friend, maybe the single strongest thing we can accomplish. Uncovering the foundation, well that's where ikigai lies.
The thing I most love about this piece...is the paralells to "exploring the poetry of people's souls as a healing modality." Or at least...that is the way I would describe one of the elements that most lights me up as I build out the invention that is...Well-Being Attunements.
I will be transparent that as much as I've worked to embody & bring to fruition this service-line, the thing I've found most puzzling to date...is pricing...for how do we put a price on the thread of divinity that intersects all hearts, minds & the environment that nurtures said beings?
Is that not priceless and yet, it is not free to feed, nurture & house ourselves which one would imagine...is a birthright...as opposed to a privilege?🙏
More curious still is that nurtruing the very beings who steward this Earth...requires great bandwith and yet, conventional norms "price" this "service-line" so curiously. Hello Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs...through a solopreneur lens 🤷♀️