Back in Business OR Imagination, Lifesaver
When I am
struggling with depression, it can often feel like I am in a gloomy room with
no windows, just lots of doors, and every door I try is locked. In desperation,
I yell for help, but no one comes. Hope is nowhere to be found. I stare at my hands as if expecting to find
help there. The lifelines on each palm leap out at me, and do a little dance.
My fingers make a grab for them, anxious to return them where they belong.
Suddenly, I am left holding a key and know instinctively that it will turn in
the lock of the next door I try.
Oh, the
lock may well be stiff, and the key take some turning, but I persevere in the
sure knowledge that beyond the damn door there has to be something better than
being stuck alone and scared in a darkened room; a life, for example.
Ah, the
wonder of imagination, not unlike a lotus flower surviving the murkiest depth
as nature intended although I guess any old metaphor or synonym for survival
will do so long as the inner eye can focus on it, and stay focused. Yes,
it may take a while, but for me at any rate, it’s how I (eventually) find
myself back in business.
You don't have to be a writer or even into the arts at all; gardening, painting and decorating, any form of creative therapy is likely to get the better of depression. Don't expect quick fix, but persevere and give yourself a fighting chance to get back on form... and if you know anyone suffering with depression, please give them a helping hand and (even more importantly) a helping ear.
As for inspiration, there is plenty out there and just finding the motivation to look for it is an important first step towards a better, kinder life. Picking up a book is as good a start as any as you'll find all life between the pages or just go to a window and look out; the chances are you'll start to find that motivation already creeping up on you. I say 'creep' because it invariably takes time to mend what's broken, but a start is a start is a start... and there's no time like the present for getting on with the business of living hopefully...
As for inspiration, there is plenty out there and just finding the motivation to look for it is an important first step towards a better, kinder life. Picking up a book is as good a start as any as you'll find all life between the pages or just go to a window and look out; the chances are you'll start to find that motivation already creeping up on you. I say 'creep' because it invariably takes time to mend what's broken, but a start is a start is a start... and there's no time like the present for getting on with the business of living hopefully...
BACK IN BUSINESS or IMAGINATION, LIFESAVER
Sometimes
when I’m feeling low
I’ll
enter paintings on walls,
engage
with crowds at market fairs,
let
history course my veins,
giving
selfhood a new dimension
and fresh
direction, letting
a lazy
inner eye know we’re back
in
business
Or I
might stroll along rugged cliffs,
communing
with waves below,
pause to
chat with a friendly peasant
whose lot
more harsh
than I
will ever know, text books
do
justice or any sympathy
with
poverty even begin to bring
it home...
An old
farm house might invite me
to join
its ghosts in a hearty meal,
the
inimitable smell of home baking
lingering
long after we’re eaten,
reviving
my other senses, replacing
lethargy
with motivation
enough to
find satisfaction in putting
imagination
to work
Copyright R. N. Taber 2012
Copyright R. N. Taber 2012
[Note: The alternative title has been added since the poem first appeared in Tracking the Torchbearer by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2012.]
Labels: creative therapy, depression, global consciousness, human nature, human spirit, imagination, life forces, mind-body-spirit, nature, personal space, poetry, positive thinking, relationships, stress, support, survival
posted by R. N. Taber | 10:20
|
0 Comments
