When I was younger I used to write poetry (believe it or not) and then as I grew up and grew busy with other things, I stopped. One day I realised I hadn’t written any poetry in ages so thought I’d sit down and put pen to paper. But when I did, I couldn’t find anything I say. It was hard work. The sentences became clunky and awkward like being on a date and realising the person doesn’t fancy you, but out of politeness and sheer determination you decide to stick with it, even though you know it is ill fated.
The words did not arrive. My skill had left me, my rhyming mojo was gone. I haven’t attempted to write poetry since.
I often wondered what changed. How I could command a skill at a moments notice, only to realise it had escaped like a thief in the night at the next.
They say nature fills a void and perhaps it is little coincidence that some time later I should find myself writing books, manuals and articles. My mojo had never left it had simply evolved into something different.
That loneliness you felt was not because you were alone but because you were searching.
That confusion you experienced was not uncertain knowledge but realising the answer.
The fear you felt about that thing, was not real. The cause had already passed by the time you realised your fear but your feeling lingered like dust in a room where something was moved and unsettled for the first time, in a long time. The thing had already moved and your fear was a delayed reaction.
That rejection you worried about was not because you were unlovable, but because someone loved you enough to push you forward towards better things.
Nothing ever ends, ever really leaves. But things do change and move on. The people that are no longer in your life now haven’t gone, because they formed part of the foundations and the framework of who you are now.
A tree isn’t a seed but a tree can only be a tree because it was a seed before.
And I can only write these metaphors because I used to write poetry, but I don’t anymore.
By Gemma Bailey
NLP & Hypnotherapy Trainer
www.HypnotherapyandNLP.co.uk
Hi Gemma,
Thanks for sharing your metaphor. I really enjoyed it.
The lines that most resonated with me were “nature fills a void” and “that confusion you experienced was not uncertain knowledge but realising the answer”
Brilliant!!
Thanks Alya 🙂