At some point in our lives, most of us seem to have decided that poetry is too precious for us. That it requires sitting quietly, alone in a silent room, to really appreciate or understand. That if we didn't get a PhD in literature, poems don't have a place in our lives. But poetry shouldn't be extraordinary. It should be ordinary. I don't mean that poems themselves should be basic or boring; I mean that poetry can and should play a role in our boring, daily, typical, and often totally mundane lives.
This year, I decided I wanted to find a way to read poems every single day, and I did. What I didn't do is start waking up before dawn each day to read Emily Dickinson's collected works for an hour. I knew I'd never follow through on something like that. Instead, I just found sneaky ways to make poetry part of my existing routines: scrolling on social media, listening to podcasts on my commute, and checking my email.
At the risk of sounding dramatic, this daily poetry habit has made my life better, deeper, and more rewarding. And I think it has the potential to do that for other people - whether or not they consider themselves a reader with a capital R. Ahead are the podcast, Instagram account, and newsletter I suggest seeking out if you want to make poetry a habit.
https://ift.tt/2PcfpgY
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