Shitty Poetry Month: Week 3

To witness lovingly.

Apr 14, 2024

*Ｓｈｉｔｔｙ= 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙 ☆ 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊 ☆ 𝕴𝖋 ☆ 𝕿𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖊𝖉 ☆ & ☆ 𝕿𝖗𝖚𝖘𝖙 ☆ 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋

A teacher once taught me that it takes around six to eight weeks to learn a new habit or skill. As in, only after six to eight weeks of routine practice do one’s neural pathways begin to branch out anew and become sturdy.

From the six to eight week mark onwards, things become second nature. But before that, our brain uses every strategy it has to resist change.

That’s why it’s usually around now—week three to four in a repeated process—that will see the majority of people quit.

Not that there’s anything morally wrong with quitting. Dropping out is a form of protest, after all. It’s your nervous system’s way of saying “No!” or if you’re feeling polite, “I don’t feel safe, so no thanks”, which it has every right to do.

However often, the powerful protector that is your body will throw up every self-effacing argument and traumatic memory it can, in order to convince you to quit something. Something that maybe your heart calls to.

So whether its continuing on your Shitty Poetry Month journey with me, or endeavoring to sit in the discomfort of another new kind of creative expression, or maybe learning to ride a bike (or drive a car, in my case), try to observe your thoughts mindfully this week.

Yes, the protective quality of our nervous system’s intelligence is pretty strong, but sunlight is the best disinfectant, they say. Get to know your own learned responses to discomfort—how your intelligent system tries to protect you—and witness it lovingly. Or at least neutrally. Once you understand it, you’re impervious to its tricks.

And instead of just giving up even though you’d rather not, you can give yourself a deeply compassionate, affirming pep talk. And keep going.

My heartfelt THANK YOU again to everyone who’s still with me at this, the halfway mark. Feel free to share your experiences thus far, along with your daily poems, in the comments below. Also, if you’re looking to keep things spicy, here’s what I’ve been doing: give yourself a window of 4x mins to write your poem, straight into Notes app or the comment section. No corrections!

And if you’re reading this and you want to join in, but still haven’t, just a reminder that it’s only a handful of angels and I, just spontaneously writing a poem a day, with no pressure to share them, and certainly none to like them. The most low-key fun you can have for zero dollars!

☆ SHITTY POETRY MONTH ~ WEEK 3 ☆

Day 15: Noon on the clock…
Day 16: A great ocean…
Day 17: What’s at stake…
Day 18: Love letters…
Day 19: Bearing witness…
Day 20: My values…
Day 21: Taking action…

Tarot card of the week ~ Death

Alright, we get it. It’s eclipse season! So because we got the Death card a few weeks ago—and in honour of Shitty Poetry Month—here is an acrostic poem. The best genre of poem.

D ~ Don’t worry, it’s only monumental change!
E ~ Everything and everyone exists so briefly.
A ~ As soon as you perceive them
T ~ they’ve changed into something else.
H ~ Hail the Goddess of Death.

Xo Jerico

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