Forward Thinking

When I was a teenager, I learned that a lot of people think that poetry is boring, that it lacks what a proper story can get across. Then I started reading poetry and realized the depths it could take you even with simple words and even a lack of words. Then in 2009, I ended up being published in a little book called The Cracks In The Paint. The organization Write Around Portland, which had the book published, has writing workshops for people affected by HIV/AIDS, survivors of domestic violence, seniors in foster care, people in recovery from drug or alcohol addictions, people with physical or mental disabilities, homeless people, low-income families, and many others.

I was at the point in my life where it seemed hopeless to dream of writing, hopeless to believe that someone might one day look at my work and be astonished. But the workshop I participated in gave me hope. The volunteer who ran the workshop was very kind to all of us, most of us teenagers who needed the written word like we need air to breathe. Poetry gave me something to think about, an outlet to banish the darker thoughts and to actually start a journey I hadn't expected to take. It warms my heart now to have the physical copy of a book that contains my name with others who were touched by the Write Around Portland program and had it make a difference in their lives simply by giving us a way to explore how to tell others our story without being point-blank about it.

I would like to say that without hope, people stagnate, and I would like to thank Write Around Portland for helping people express themselves in a time where they had lost hope or needed to see that at the end there is always hope.

So I guess what I am saying is don't lose hope, not everything is lost. There will always be something, whether it is poetry or writing in general. Family, friends, and life are both the best and the worst thing for a writer or a poet, tranquility or chaos our brick and mortar. There will be nothing that would take these things from us.

As cliche and overused as it is, there really is darkness before light, and everyone goes through their own personal brand of hell, and it is times like that that can lead to the most beautiful poetry. Pain is a part of life, and life is our muse, our driving force. All we can do is simply live and continue to move forward, because without that kind of thought process, without that hope that things will get better, we stagnate. Hope lost is perhaps the saddest thing to see.

The look in someone's eyes when they lose hope is really the scariest thing I think I have ever seen, and I hope that as random as this is, that it helps someone, anyone, to think about life and know that even when they feel lost, afraid, and alone, there is someone who will root for them, even a complete stranger with their own issues will hope for the best. I will cheer with every success and comfort during the setbacks, because there are no failures, only life lessons that we can grow from.

For me, that was Write Around Portland and poetry. I believe that everyone, no matter what they have gone through, has a chance for happiness. It won't be immediate, it won't be easy, but we all know that. We all know that there will be people in our lives that look to benefit themselves and leave everyone else behind.

But there are also those who are in your corner even when you feel alone.