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“Again you will take up your Tambourines, and go out to dance with the joyful,” is a verse in the Bible - from Jeremiah 31:4. I found it this year, and it jumped out to me as a promise of better things to come. In the original text, it was spoken as a promise to people who were in the midst of severe darkness.
This has been a difficult year, and some of my poetry will reflect that. It’s not always easy to explain why a year has been difficult - but it’s also far from unusual to have a difficult year. We all have our tough years. One thing about my poetry is that it is very accessible. People tell me all the time that they can relate to what I’m saying. If I’m talking about difficulties, it’s in a way that most people can see a bit of themselves in it. If I’m talking about joy, it’s not hidden within my own experiences - it’s in a way that you as the audience can participate and feel joy as well.
One of the things that stands out the most to me about the poems I have selected for this years performance is that there is so much music in the air. I don’t actually have any music for you to listen to while I’m performing - but you may still walk away feeling like you’ve been to a concert. I speak about music, I feel music, music tells me stories, and I’m here to share them with you. There is a lot of joy in this show even though this has been a tough year - and that is what I love about poetry!! It helps me find my way in the world, my way back to laughter and joy, when there is pain or confusion in my day to day life!
There are many lessons we have learned this year about being a married couple, being parents, about running a business, and just trying to be grown-ups. It all boils down to that this is just life - it is good sometimes, and very good sometimes. It is mystical and reverent. It is a joy and a wonder. It is heartbreaking, and lonely at times too. And my friends help me understand that this is all normal - that we all go through these things, that these are cycles, that sometimes loving someone hurts, and then it turns to beautiful again. This has been a year of growing up for me (about time, I’d say, since I’m 40) where I’m realizing that fairytales are not reality, I’m finding balance, and I’m learning to laugh and love and dance through it all - good, bad, and ugly.
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