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Poetry as a Stress Reliever: How to Try It

We All Agree That Life Is Stressful

Often times, especially as young adults, it feels as though the world is weighing down on our shoulders. Sometimes, it actually is, other times, not so much. We all have ways of dealing with stress and finding ways to relax our minds, but my favorite way to relieve stress is through the use of poetry. If you have never wrote a poem before, that is okay. There’s not too many rules when you write poetry for personal reasons. This is not an article about “how to become a poet” this is a guide on how to find comfort in your own words. So here are a few quick tips on how to overcome stress by writing a poem.

Comparisons, Analogies, and Personification Are Your Friend

The key is to take whatever problem you are dealing with and compare it to something else. For example, if you are feeling overwhelmed by an upcoming test, ask yourself “how does this make me feel?” Don’t use words like “sad” or “worried”, but what can this feeling of being “overwhelmed” be compared to? Try saying something along the lines of, it feels like “I’m sinking rapidly into quicksand” or “a wave is crashing down on me and I can’t stand up”. This is the method of comparisons you can use make your problem seem larger than anything you’ve truly experienced and subconsciously that reminds you that your problem isn’t anywhere near that big or severe.

Let’s Create A Sample Poem

We’re going to create a sample poem together, right here, right now. We’ll stick with the example of quicksand being your overwhelming feeling towards the upcoming test. Now, we’ll stay in this imaginary quicksand setting and compare everything else surrounding our feeling of being overwhelmed to things in our imaginary setting. For example, you are studying the hardest you can but you still feel a bit hopeless. Lets try a poem line comparing how hard you are studying to trying to pull yourself out of the quicksand with a vine. Then we’ll compare the feeling of doubt you have towards the upcoming test and connect that to feeling doubtful about if you can escape the quicksand with the vine. Our next line will look something like, “I am pulling as hard as I can to escape, is this vine strong enough?”.

This final step of our poem is probably the most important. You want your poem to end in a positive ending that is why we are using it to relieve stress, right? Finish off your poem in triumph, since you are in complete control in your poem finish it off the way you want it to end. In this case, you want to pass this test so let your character in the poem free themselves from the quicksand. This will symbolize you freeing yourself from the feeling of being overwhelmed by this upcoming test. Let’s try an ending of “my undeniable strength allowed me to be freed, nothing, not even quicksand, can hold me down for long”. By the end of the poem you will have a poem that looks something like this.

I’m sinking rapidly into quicksand
I am pulling as hard as I can to escape,
Is this vine strong enough?
My undeniable strength allowed me to be freed,
Nothing, not even quicksand,
Can hold me down for long

Just like that, you have a quality short poem with a story of trouble and triumph with a motivational message. Hopefully you will feel a sense of calm overcome you by the end of this process.

Forget “The Rules”, YOUR Poem Is Just That, YOURS

Poetry does take practice to master, but as a stress reliever this is your thought process in order to calm yourself. What you think is good, fits your life, and calms your nerves is a 10 out of 10 poem. There is a preconceived notion that poetry has to rhyme or be super deep and truth is, it doesn’t. Poetry is art and just like all art it comes in various forms and it should all still be equally appreciated. Get out and write, don’t think about it, just do it!

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