Of Poets, Poems and Philosophers

Sense-making and uncover the things we didn’t know we knew.

The topics of poetry and Ikigai have fused for me this week.

I often recommend those on the Ikigai journey start their day with a poem. My More Muse-Less News approach.

Avoiding the news helps lower stress levels and anxiety. Reading poetry primes the mind for creativity and self-reflection.

Self-reflection and understanding are, at their essence, all about sense-making. Sense-making is key to uncovering your Ikigai.

Poetry is about sense-making as well. I love good poetry and cartoons because they say something in a short space in abstraction, which is so compelling that it charges your creativity and imagination.

It is a marvelous form of sense-making.

Because I encourage poetry reading, I'm often asked if I write poetry.

Being a poet is one of those rare things you can just 'be'. You don't have to be great at it, make a living at it, or even be published and yet, you can 'be' a poet. Kind of magical, really.

I always thought it would be fun to be a poet though it remained a someday thing.

In the spirit of actually doing the things I talk about doing someday, I decided to create a poem, an Ikigai Haiku.

That is the essence of Ikigai.

Naval Ravikant says, in the end, we are all philosophers and maybe that's where I'm drifting this morning.

We need poets, poems, and philosophers to uncover the things we didn't know we knew.

🌀 Sense-making

Bonus Thought: If you are interested in trying out the practice of starting your day with a poem, check out The Favorite Poem Project here.