Friday, June 17, 2011

Poetry Tips: Boredom Before Concentration

Remember summer vacation? I miss it with a passion. Remember being bored? When you were bored you often wandered around and eventually stumbled onto a great idea and tried to put it into action. As a kid, I would always find a way to build more interesting forts in the backyard using the trees as support or when we lived in El Paso, we used tumbleweeds.

Nowadays we are overscheduled and distracted by our various electronics so that we often feel that this is the way life is. I’m asking you to switch off all those electronic devices and just sit there. That’s right, no books allowed, either. You may grab a journal or notebook and a pen, no cameras, nothing else. Allow yourself to finally be alone with your thoughts.

Uncomfortable? Maybe, but you’ll get used to it. Embrace being bored. Let your thoughts flow freely even if all your brain comes up with at first is a list of all the things you should be doing instead.

Next, concentrate on your breathing and county slowly as you breathe in and then count slowly as you breathe out. This will help clear your mind. After at least five long, slow breaths, focus your mind on what you would really like to do creatively.

Whatever you think up next, write it down. Write a list of all the ideas that begin to form in your head and then pick the best ones and try them!

Good luck to all who try this exercise, please drop by again next week…

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