The Wonderful Power of Poetry to Heal

by | May 26, 2021

Many of us have written poems to express some strong and/or confused emotions that eddies and flows in whirlpool circles within our breast. These emotions are sometimes erupting into crashing waves within our hearts, threatening to burst us open.  Whether or not we had any talent or learned skill, whether or not the poem written was of any quality — we still found some benefit to putting pen to paper. 

The Benefits of Poetry

Let us explore some of these benefits of expressing ourselves in verse.

  1. Firstly is the expression of difficult emotions.  Expressing these difficult emotions onto the printed page (or handwritten) frees up some emotional space and gives us some breathing room.  It is within this emotional breathing room that we find the second benefit of writing poetry.
  2. Self-discovery.  Writing verse can bring insight into how we feel and ideas on how to remedy the situation we find ourselves in and alleviate some of our pain and suffering.
  3. Release.  This alleviation of pain and suffering is due to the release of the negative emotions that is a byproduct of writing poetry and the catharsis that comes from reading it.
  4. Catharsis involves the releasing of intense, sometimes repressed emotions. This catharsis can provide a certain sense of relief and inner calm.
  5. Through this process of catharsis, emotions transmute from their original overwhelming and negative flavour to a more tranquil, positive flavour –usually in the form of some measure of inner peace.
  6. As a reader, one can see a bit of oneself and one’s life situations within the evocative, poetic words of another.  Through this connection to the written word, one can discover a source of empathy within oneself.

Poetry is an expression of one’s inner truths, where joy or turmoil, or a complicated combination of multiple emotions and insights, is greatly valued by both the writer and the reader.

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