Lessons from “The Great Gatsby” and the art of letting go 🚂
Hello dear poets,
Last night, on the recommendation of a friend, I watched “The Great Gatsby,” starring none other than Leonardo DiCaprio. My conclusion? Well, let’s just say the movie didn’t exactly blow me away. Weak storyline, inconsistent characters, and feels longer than a train ride from Munich to Berlin. Only the dazzling party scenes brought some color into the game. I have to admit that I wouldn’t turn down these parties either!
But let’s leave the film criticism aside and get to the core: Gatsby’s tragic story. He desperately tries to restore the past to win back his lost love. His persistent clinging to the past made me think about the power of letting go — a theme that also has relevance in the world of poetry.
In a key scene, Gatsby responds defiantly to the objection that one cannot repeat the past: “Of course you can. Of course you can repeat the past… Everything will be the same again.” Here Gatsby appears as the classic tragic hero, caught in the illusion of the repeatability of past moments of happiness.
As poets, we could learn from Gatsby’s mistakes. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the master of new beginnings and constant reinvention, once aptly said: “The worst thing I could be is like everyone else.” These words should inspire us not to follow in the footsteps of our past, but to bravely break new ground and write fresh verse.
We, the courageous travelers on the tracks of the poetry slam, have the unique opportunity to set the course anew with every performance, with every new poem. Let’s leave the past behind us and create something new, something unheard of, something that touches and moves the hearts of our listeners.
So if you currently feel like you’re stuck on past experiences or people, remember: only by letting go can you create space for new opportunities and encounters. The stage of life and that of the poetry slam are ready for your new stories, your untold adventures.
So, board our literary express, unpack your most powerful verses and let us prove together that life and poetry are always worth the journey.
With inspiring greetings from wagon to wagon,
Stephen
P.S.: Don’t forget to bring your writing tools — it’s time to conquer the world with your words! 🚄✍️✨
