Get Ya Head Out The Gutter

Isolation has been difficult. We have given our best shot, making good-humoured efforts to retrieve those idle, home comforts to fill out our daily lives. But as the weeks pass, the four walls seem to get a little smaller, despite all the space freed up in our usual, hum-drum schedules. We may have entered this strange time with a resolution to learn something new, to expand our horizons, but some of us may feel like the sun’s since gone down on that promise. If that’s the case, I can assure you that you’re not alone.

Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing some ways in which I have been trying to whittle down the days (or even minutes) without feeling like I’m turning into, for lack of a better word, a potato. They won’t cost you, they won’t take much time out of your day, but they will, in some small way, keep your mind agile and engaged without taking too much effort.

Given that it’s Poetry Day Ireland, I’m starting with something that you shouldn’t knock until you try it:

Doodle a Poem

In a time like this, many of us will turn to some sage words in the form of a poem or two for some new thoughts, solitude and inspiration. For me, the last few lines of Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers” have been swirling around in my head when I least expect it.

But what about trying something a little different, like writing our own beautiful or bemusing verses? Over the past few weeks, I’ve found it very calming to play with little words and ideas, some with rhyme, some that make no sense, some that give me a laugh.

While reading a powerful poem can be a wonderful exercise, I’m a firm believer that being pro-active about our own feelings in a creative way can bring release – especially when the idleness feels like too much. If you’re like me and constantly feel the need to have a project on the go, you might also find that it’s an easy way to ease guilt and anxiousness around not being as productive as usual.

It’s not daunting or embarrassing or cringey – if you see the act of writing a poem in the right light. The trick is to think about penning a poem in the same way you would doodle a smiley face or a flower on the edge of a notebook. It doesn’t need to be spectacular; You don’t need to share it; You don’t even need to keep it. Your words won’t change the world, that’s certain, but they might change your mindset. That’s what’s really important.

I’ll finish this by going out on a limb and sharing one of my nowhere-near-brilliant poems. It was written on a night where I felt particularly stifled by being in isolation. In writing it, I somehow brought the poem and my mentality around to a nicer, softer conclusion than I had expected. I finished within a few minutes, feeling instantly better. The poem went like this:

All this wine and cheese

Will make me fat.

I sit around and read,

Take lots of baths

But I can’t go outside,

Confined to the flat

Where there’s love and friends

Call Mum for a chat

Sometimes I get scared,

I panic, feel trapped

But we’re doing our best

And I can’t argue with that.