Mindfulness and Poetry: Delicious Word Awareness

Everyone's a poet.

Of course, everyone's a critic, too! This means that there are plenty of opportunities to heighten our awareness of words and how we use them.

Words create pictures, and just as a painter uses a combination of colors and strokes to express a concept, we offer an artisticrendering of thoughts through carefully chosen words.

Our linguistic intelligence is what allows us to both recognize and generate vivid word vignettes. Whether you enjoy novels, biographies, mysteries, sonnets, haiku, song lyrics, conversations, soliloquies, or newspaper stories, you can develop greater word awareness by focusing on descriptive phrases.

In our everyday speech, we tend to speak in phrases and punctuate these with expressions, pauses, gestures, or laughter. Although the words themselves convey meaning, the total picture we create is a combination of inflection, context, juxtaposition, and even eye contact.

Don't think you have your own personal poetry style? Think again. You use words in your own way, and it's likely that, given an assignment to express a particular concept, your version would have recognizable elements.

Try this test: describe a birthday cake.

There's a good chance that you would use words to express the shape, flavor, color, decoration, ingredients, size, and presentation of a cake, and that the precise way you do that would be unique when compared to others' descriptions. In addition, you're likely to come up with a different description if asked to do so a month from now.

You can easily and enjoyably boost your word awareness by

1) selecting a particular cue word as a trigger for mindfulness, or

2) focusing on phrases used in specific settings.

Better yet, try both!

By using a particular word as a mindfulness trigger, you can watch how others create poetic representations of the same element.

Ready for your secret food awareness word? Here it is: morsel.

Listening for a specific word will develop your ability to make distinctions in the way it is used and allow you to watch for subtle variations. Does "morsel" refer to something creamy or chewy? Is it savory or sweet?

To play with poetry and mindfulness at the same time, notice phrases used to describe food. Listen to them with an ear for rhythm, and picture them as lines of a poem.

Read menu descriptions, food articles or cookbooks and be aware of the adjectives most likely to get your mouth watering. Sensual words like "succulent" and "luscious" elicit physiological responses. Pay attention to those, and listen for the phrases you hear that create especially vivid sense experiences.

Linking word pictures with taste helps us anchor our linguistic intelligence with our bodily intelligence, and this makes our mouths very happy indeed.

Delectable words,

Delicious poetry. Mmmm--

True taste sensation.

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches fun and effective eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.MassageYourMind.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Creativity Information:

Related Articles

Telling It Like It Is (Or Can Be)
When you hear, "tell me a story," does your mind suddenly go blank? Don't panic. The good news is, you're already a natural storyteller! Surprised? You shouldn't be.
Tips on Breaking the Creative Block
There's no question that creating anything is hard to do. Here are some tips if you find yourself creatively blocked.
The Elements of Creativity: What-ifs?
What if there is no toilet paper and I am halfway through doing the "do"?What if one of my team members decides to leave the project halfway and he happens to be the most knowledgeable guy there?What if I turn colour blind, how should I adapt to the environment?What-if, what-if and more what-ifs?The technique of asking What-ifs provokes an individual to think and to produce something new. At times, in order to find original solutions to old problems, one must take the leap of faith and ask 'crazy' and imaginative questions to get us out of the rut of stale, conformist routine.
What Open Stage is Teaching Me About Life
After many years of performing as a vocalist, I switched my focus to my training and work as a music therapist. I love sharing my music with my clients with special needs and it continues to be an incredibly rewarding field of work.
Analysis of The Monkeys Paw by W. W. Jacobs: A Study in Lateral Thinking
I first read The Monkey's Paw as a youngster in Junior High School. I was touched by how an elderly couple received the gift that everyone would want, three wishes, and how the gift turned into a curse.
Internet Business: 10 Important Creative Ways To Get New Product Ideas
Creativity is one of the most important keys to success in any business.If you want to succeed in any business, you have to bemore creative and pragmatic.
Overcoming Artists Block (part 2)
Once you are ready to start working again you will know itinstinctively. All artists go through periods of 'creative block' - it's normal, but after one such episode there are ways of stimulating ideas and getting the creative juices flowing again.
Creativity Management - The Value Of An Idea?
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
Creativity Management - Artists and Creativity
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
A Question of Time and Memory
I have been struck recently by a number of questions which have found their way into my mind. One of these is the question of memory.
Creativity Myths
Sustained myths about Creativity and Innovation lead to confusion, bad practice and bad decision making. Some of them include:1.
Find the Artist Within
Can anyone be an artist? People admiring my work often say, "I could never do that!" I say, "Yes, you can!" Eight years ago, during a very difficult time in my career in finance (Downsizings, layoffs - let's not talk about it, OK?), my company sent me to a development workshop for female executives. I came out of a particularly thought-provoking discussion group and penned the following very prophetic free verse.
Top Five Reasons to Cultivate Your Creativity
Cultivating your creativity is more than spending time with a hobby or performing and displaying your work. Cultivating your creativity takes time, awareness and deliberate action.
Art, Artists and Vocation
"If you really want to upset your parents?go into the arts!"-Kurt VonnegutHow many times have people been told that "You can't make it as an artist."How many times when you've told someone that you are studying theater, dance, the visual arts, do people look at you and cringe; feel sorry for you, and feel that you and your family have wasted a great deal of money, and that you have wasted years of your life.
Charge Your Imagination (1)
"The challenges are not in the marketplace. They are in the mind".
Tapping into Your Super Creative Power
Do you consider yourself creative? How about super creative? Most people may not think of themselves as creative, but I believe that everyone has the potential for great creativity. They just need a little understanding and practice.
Sleep and Creativity
In my life, sleep is the number one way that I can either enhance my self-care and nourish myself or defeat my self-care and deplete my energy, peace of mind & productivity all in one shot.When I'm rested I'm more resilient to stress.
9 Ways to Live Creatively
Creativity - according to Webster's it means having the ability or power to create; characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative. Ok that sounds great, wouldn't we all like to be more creative every day? Sometimes the hardest part to trying something new is the first step.
Tap the Creative Inside You
Imagination is the source of creativity. It's a place where unlimited possibilities reside.
Innovation Through Concept-Combination
There are many creative problem solving techniques used by inventors to come up with new solutions to old problems. For sheer innovation, though, it's hard to beat the technique of concept-combination.
>