The first time I heard the term—creating the poetry of your life was when I studied in secondary school in Singapore. My foundations with writing began with a literature subject. Taught by Mrs. Marie Bong, my teacher and principal in Katong Convent.
Some of the best times in my school years is studying poetry in both Malay and English. I found academic subjects boring. But look forward to learning new poems and reading literature books. We read to find meaning in between each poem, discovering the hidden message in it.
Studying is not my cup of tea. And I failed many subjects simply because I wasn’t really interested in studying.
In this post I’ll share how writing helped me create the life I wanted to live. Once you realize that only you have the power to create your own experiences, then you too can create the poetry of your life.
The Poetry of your Life
How do you find time to slow down? To work on things that matters to you most. The craft of writing helps me unwind to reflect and gather ideas. To finetune and articulate them and even make them real.
In my teens I wrote poetry and lyrics of songs in my journal. Stringing words from what I felt onto every line in a verse. This practice of writing has helped me grow in my own time.
You see, I listen selectively, to only to what I want to hear. My home environment was turbulent. So I excluded myself from the external world to internalize my experiences.
All I wanted back then was to create the most amazing stories to block out the experiences at home. I dreamed of living away, in the highest mountains in the world. And wrote those stories in my journal. But here’s the catch, the dreams I strive to achieve is only a vision in my mind. How do I make it real or bring them to life in my reality. It’s up to only me to make my dreams come true.
Try this experiment. Think of a plan for a holiday you want to experience—let your mind show you where to go to achieve this without you controlling the outcome. Can you see it clearly in your mind? Go on, write them down in a journal before you forget. If you believe that anything is possible, then I challenge you to bring your dreams to life. You know, the ones you keep as secrets in your heart.
What Stories Were You Born With
I was born and raised in Singapore. My early years at CHIJ Opera Estate Primary school, is where I learned to write pantun, Malay poetry. It’s really hard to write poems in a different language, yet I enjoyed the challenge.
When I move from primary to secondary school at Katong Convent, we had our yearly book and music week where we use all the knowledge we learn in literature to let our performances shine. The written lines of Shakespeare dripping down into our voices on a stage. We read the works of Jane Austin and Charlotte Brontë to understand the unseen meaning in between her stories. Studying for hours to answer questions in our yearly exams. The more you read, the more you realize how much language is a huge part of communication and to express our vision.
But all these stories were not mine. It was someone else’s that I learned about. And while I strive to learn about these stories, I knew I too had a story of my own.
What Stories Will You Tell?
Some say there’s a story inside each of us waiting to be discovered. We all have a tales to tell. What would your story be?
At some stage in life, we all struggle to figure out what we want to do or achieve. Yet often we just bypass this idea. Hoping somehow it’ll disappear. Or we’ll search for an activity to occupy our time. We do this to hide away from fear. The truth is, that nagging feeling inside you won’t go away. The unconscious slowly creeps into your heart and soul, guiding you forward. Showing you how to find your own story.
Hard work is what will bring your endeavors to life. And unless we use a little elbow grease, chances are we’ll face a challenge to get into the crux of our soul’s desire. And we don’t want to stay stuck in a cycle of waiting and procrastinating while doing absolutely nothing.
Everything you’ll ever need is inside you. All you have to do is attentively listen and a vision of the future will appear to you, eventually. Your job is then to take action.
I’ve written my story in a memoir and it is finally completed after eighty three drafts multiplied over a period of ten years. Yes, you heard me, a decade ago is when I started this idea to go on a journey to write my memoir. To be honest I only started writing the actual book in 2022. The years before I spent more time gathering all my stories from my journals which I kept from my teenage years. And then I read heaps of book on the craft of writing so I could put my pen to action.
Learning to write and storytelling requires much time to set the structure in stone. We all know the beginning, middle and end is a 3 act structure used in writing. But where do you find the stories to include or rather what stories do you want to tell?
The Craft of Writing and Storytelling
Our principal, Mrs. Marie Bong, had so much enthusiasm, she inspired every student to write their own version of poems. She expressed her emotions when explaining what certain aspects of poetry meant to her. And along the way, I’ve gathered my own list of favorite poems.
Her favorite handbook the Five Centuries of Verse ever ready in hand to quote certain poems to us. One of my all-time favorite poems, Ulysses 1833 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is truly like a lyric from a song when you read it.
And when this poem presented itself in the movie Dead Poets Society, I knew poetry was more than just an academic subject for me. In the movie, a group of kids sneak out to a cave where they read poetry and discover its meaning in their own life. And slowly begin to recognize the essence of who they were and the importance of what lies inside them. Eventually they find the courage to pursue what they want to do instead of what their parents pushed them to do.
What’s missing in our education system is the skill of thinking for ourselves. Or perhaps we go through our formal education only to find out what we don’t like doing so we can then focus on the things that interest us in adulthood.
What I know for sure is that we have a choice. To follow what others teach or tell us to do. Or, let your inner guide lead you to where you are meant to go.
So why not go on your own adventure. Write your hearts’ desire in your journal, to know what you want to achieve. Create your own stories of experiences you want to see in your life. Then make a wish and see what happens. Remember that nothing is impossible!
What is your favorite subject in school? And how has it made an impact on your life.
