Blogetry vs. Worry
By John Pemberton - 23/07/2008
Don’t be alarmed! Blogetry isn’t a contraction of blocked artery. Quite the opposite in fact. It is one of the most potent weapons in our armoury against the dreaded condition called Worry and its bedmate, Stress.
Analysis of case histories has shown that worry is one of the greatest causes of illness. It has been termed ‘man’s greatest plague.’ Of particular interest is the statistic that fifty percent of our worries are about the future, only ten percent about the present.
We are not born with it. Worry is a habit, and one that can be cured. Unlike kicking the smoking habit, the cure for worry is something pleasant: something you can actually enjoy. I would go so far as to say that it usually becomes an enjoyable and beneficial habit itself.
If you are still wondering what all this is about, let me relieve the stress by explaining that ‘blogetry’ is a recently coined term for online poetry. More specifically, it applies to poetry that you and I can write and then ‘upload’ to our very own blog (more later).
Of course, you don’t need to have a blog - or even the least interest in computers - to derive the immense benefits that poetry has to offer. Note, however, that these benefits are not to be unlocked by simply reading poetry, but by writing it. This is of the essence.
Maintaining good health in our later years requires the all important balance of a healthy mind and a healthy body. And it is attaining the former that presents so many of us with the greater difficulty. A sensible diet and regular exercise are physical matters that can generally be recognized and given due attention. Looking after the mind isn’t about passive activities like listening to music or catching the news on television. It has to involve something proactive.
A daily dose of crossword or sudoku will take you so far, but not all the way. How often do you look back at your old crosswords? They may give a fleeting sense of satisfaction, but not that of an enduring achievement, one that can be looked back on, improved, continually augmented - and shared! For that, I suggest you will find the writing of poetry unbeatable.
Creative writing has burgeoned over that past couple of decades. There are now over 2700 higher education courses offered by some 650 institutions in the UK, as well as others run by miscellaneous organizations - including those run for readers of Mature Times by our editor Tony Watts. Local societies and, of course, public libraries also have discussion groups where coffee and biscuits replace lectures and exams.
What, then, is a blog? It’s like a website, but one you can use to log your own activities. Not surprisingly, ‘blog’ derives from ‘weblog.’ You can obtain and run one completely free of charge from such as Google, and it comes ready-to-go - honestly! You can enter your poems, edit them, delete them, search through them using words from their titles and texts, even add pictures. To whet your appetite I have assembled a special collection of my own poems relating to our time of life. They come in various sizes, range over many topics, and await your visit as a guest to the website linked below.
I promise you will get a real buzz from writing your own poetry. So get mentally creative, even if you never become a blogger. You’ll find it a healthy distraction from the manic forces that menace our daily existence. It’s like starting a new life!
Go to the site linked below for a selection of poems and other work - all with maturity in mind.