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Writing Poetry To Ease Your Worries And Lift Your Spirits
A surprising tool for self-empowerment
What do you do when you’re stressed and need relief? There are quite a few options, from meditating, enjoying relaxing music or tea, all the way to exercising or hugging a friend or a pet. But one surprisingly powerful tool turns out to be writing poetry. And here’s something potentially even more powerful: writing formal poetry.
Breast cancer and treatments
I discovered that when I had breast cancer some 25 years ago. I feared for my life, and I was also afraid of the treatments that loomed in my immediate future. What a catch-22.
I’m a wimp when it comes to medical procedures. I find even injections quite painful and avoid them if at all possible. The prospect of surgery freaked me out. But if I refused it, I could die.
Of course I might die anyway, I thought. But as it turned out, I didn’t. Instead, I survived the whole process, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, along with all the side effects and resulting additional treatments.
Poetry to the rescue
Not all side effects were negative. One of the positive ones was that I was on sick leave. So for the first time in many years, I had…
