Shitty Poetry Month: Week 4
Passion as protector.
♥ Shitty Poetry Month ♥
*Ｓｈｉｔｔｙ= 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙 ☆ 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊 ☆ 𝕴𝖋 ☆ 𝕿𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖊𝖉 ☆ & ☆ 𝕿𝖗𝖚𝖘𝖙 ☆ 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋
We’re almost there. The last week of #ShittyPoetryMonth is upon us.
I feel a mixture of feelings. Sad, because I’ve enjoyed knowing that I’m doing the same thing as other people in this community in different parts of the world and that feels connective. Relieved, because I hate being told what to do, even by myself and having a routine often still repels me despite my better judgement. And grateful, because a silly idea I had has been taken up by others with such vulnerability, sweetness, and enthusiasm. Thank you.
You’ve given me the gift of encouragement, especially where my sudden passionate wants to realise something creatively are concerned. It’s so important that we have spaces and people with which we feel safe and encouraged to be passionate. I firmly believe that PASSION is our most effective protection against the tyranny of perfectionism and all the fear, cringe, self-doubt etc. that comes with it.
Your passion will defend you against discouragement. Your passion will remind you what feels most meaningful in your life. Your passion will safe-guard you against quitting things that you secretly want to be doing (or avoid doing to begin with).
Your passion is an innate, divine part of you that can’t be dulled, even when it feels like it. It’s your higher creative consciousness. A reservoir of creative curiosity, playfulness, and joy. Your passion is yours to acknowledge, proudly own, and cultivate. And if you’re neurodivergent, doubly so; your passions are what you learn through. That’s what being an interests-based learner means! Embrace the intensity.
I say this because I want you to leave Shitty Poetry Month more ALIVE and more passionate than you started it. Not just because it feels good, but because these feeling states are tools in your creative arsenal that will make you a more resilient, brave, playful, full of self-belief, and an unstoppable creative force. You already are, of course. I just want you to deeply feel it, so you fully believe it. YOU ARE A POET. YOU ARE AN ARTIST.
☆ SHITTY POETRY MONTH ~ WEEK 4 ☆
Day 22: Connectivity…
Day 23: An old museum…
Day 24: Aliveness is like…
Day 25: Why apologise…
Day 26: When the body speaks…
Day 27: At dusk…
Day 28: A dark night of the soul…
Day 29: Awakening…
If you haven’t already noticed, the poetry prompts over this whole month have been vaguely structured like a day; from dawn to dusk, to night, and morning again. That’s why “awakening” was there at the very beginning and again here, as our last prompt. As you come to a completion this week, spend some time reflecting on where you’ve been over the last month. Some journaling prompts for you:
What didn’t I know, that I know now?
How have I been there for myself over these 4x weeks?
What do I want to remember from this experience?
A note on the pledge button
Thank you again to all who’ve participated in this month-long creative challenge, whether on The Dreamer, IG, or just privately at home.
I’m feeling pretty *passionate* about creating more spaces via this newsletter for body-doubling, creative co-working, workshops, and more. But I’d love to know how many of you value my work ~and have the means to donate to its growth! When you hit the “pledge your support” button on this Substack, you’re letting me know that when turn on new paid tiers, that you’re reading and willing to pay for closer access to experiences like this, virtual events, and much. I hope you’ll consider pledging <3
☆ YOUR INVITE: GO DEEPER WITH ME ☆
If you feel the call to work with me at a more intimate, more transformative level as your creative coach, I’m accepting new clients NOW! Come Alive is my three-month private coaching container for creatives (or the creativity-curious), the highly sensitive, and neurodivergent. In it, I’ll take you from stuck and scared to more playful, less judgey, and more in love with your creative voice than ever. I can say that confidently because it’s happened for every one of my clients. I have a bunch of testimonails from filmmakers, artists, therapists, musicians, producers, designers, and many more people on my site.
If you’re curious to know more, we can jump on a zero-pressure Zoom call together. Sliding scale price tiers available! And I also offer scholarships a few times a year.
Xo Jerico
How to work with me
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An old museum…
Ancient icons
of a Goddess old
as the first sunrise.
A bronze likeness
of Bastet
is officially named after
the Mayor who
painted her green.
Her wedjat eye will meet
the glassy gaze of six million
voyeurs this year.
And the year after that.
A dark night of the soul...
When shames buries you
deep in its linens,
when loneliness tastes
bitter as orange peel
left in a dark room,
when horror comes
banging at your door,
there I am.
When you’re awake
all night with fretful fits
of memory like presents
un-wrapped and re-made
offered to the tree
of wretchedness and woe,
there I am.
When the demons of
doubt claw your
hard-beaten chest of air,
when you show
your body no mercy,
When time eats herself whole,
There I am.
I have studied the devotion
of Sappho, of Cohen, of
extraordinary women branded
immoderate by swine,
and I know how cold it gets.
And I won’t leave you.