Creating is Good For Mental Health

There are so many creative people in the world and oh how lucky am I to be connected to such creative and fabulous people on twitter.

“Where The World Finds Gratitude in the Rhythm of Shared Writing” Kevin Hodgson

Thank you for the inspiration #DS106. Creating is so good for our mental health. I am always inspired by @grammasheri . i love that she nudges me to join in on her creative endeavours. I am also grateful to @wendtale who has also given me a nudge or two along the way. I have had the pleasure of collaborating with her on Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning before so connecting again has been great. So today I was inspired to create a remix of 106 lines of thought.

Here is my remix:

Collaborating on the 106 Lines of Thought poem with such fabulous people was so much fun. Here is the original.

1. A bird, flying though the sky

2 Cuts through dark clouds

3 Circling on wind drifts

4 Your mind shifts to stars

5 Whose silver wings shimmer and shiver. And fade.

6 Cutting into thin air, exhilarating, hard to breath,

7 as you swim through the sun flooded blue

8 ignoring the green duckweed trying to get into your nostrils.

9 focusing on turquoise skies: the other side

10 until, until, there. You break through and for a moment,

11 you forget. (Go to line 106 option)

12 The dark clouds that touched your wings yesterday. Now replaced by light.

13 Invisibly lifted, you soar higher.

14 Higher and higher until you fear Icarus’ fate.

15 Looking down, you notice gratitude growing within you,

16 warming your bones just like the Sun’s rays.

17 wrapping wings of hope around the earth

18 observing the moment pass.

19 You glide, introspective,

20 Into a brighter light,

21 illuminating from deep within,

22 sparking something deep inside of you,

23 that reaches out to others

24 even animal friends, companions

25 share your brilliance

26 alive, living in the moment.

27 noticing the small things

28 celebrating the small things, because these give us all hope.

29 a child’s smile, a cat’s paw, a snowdrop peeking through the snow

30 a carousel of animated memories that light up receptors of gratitude

31 and trigger fond memories

32 captured, like snapshots, to browse through

33 a force keeping the dark clouds at bay

34 and allowing our inner strength to shine through

35 Wings rhythm beat is one of an ancient song

36 The sound of wings https://youtu.be/AzEZUofreU0

37 beats like hearts thumping in rhythm

38 like tribes gathering

39 on the plateau in late spring

40 reflecting on the past yet looking to the future

41 and still remaining warriors in the present

42 armed with love and compassion

    43 To see ourselves as others see us!

    44 It wad frae monie a blunder free us,

    45 An’ foolish notion.

46 Of snowflakes drifting on the winds

47 Snowflakes?

48 the only flakes I see are dust

49 different zones, different moans

50 Crisscrossing echoes linger

51 from far away. While closer, chattering birds

52 with young in tow, peaceful sounds, rise in stark contrast

53 with sirens, ever circling. Human and nature collide

54 something of our song still songs, inside

55 wonder rises, can we still hear?

56 have we salvaged our hope to listen for joy?

57 Hope springs eternal, so we are told. Joy

58 cometh from the sounds of birds, the breath of wind, the tangible sense of nature

59 of hope

60 Where poems are seeds and stories are leaves

61 the Earth grows stronger, and the sunlight

62 shadows these trees, firm-rooted in ancient soil

63 and we, the people, we are always digging deep

64 thinking and feeling , listening as though we may be

65 on the ancient bows of trees rooting stories through and through,

66 reaching at once deep into the earth and high into the sky

67 these

68      clouds

69               speak

70                      of

71                          forever

72                      these

73                 roots

74       burrow

75 down

76 past the places where we share words

77 that tumble past my lips, like a blessing

78 or a curse

79 far beneath, where stone melts and churns

80 then returns with smoke and fire

81 through cracks and crevices

82 new land cools and forms

83 greens, flourishes,

84 only to have the Poet surface, to ponder:

85 And what will we make of this place

86 where poems and voice and culture collide?

87 what digital fossils left embedded in stone?

88 Take this hammer, take this chisel

89 Take some time to work alone

90 Shatter the surface of intentions

91 Surface this collaborative poem

92 Grab it by the scruff

93 Wield the woven words

94 a weapon against hate

95 a tapestry of many colors

96 a harmony of many notes

97 will you knit our thoughts together?

98 will you help us fly?

99 I can fly beside you, soar with you

100 Share in the life of these words

101 Sit still in silence with you

102 What will it be?

103 When we come to these last lines

104 Who will we be? Will we

105 Remember to breathe and

106 To flap. The End.

Contributors:

Sarah @NomadWarMachine

Wendy @wentale

Kevin @dogtrax

Beemer @krue222

Ron @RonSamul

Nathalie @drnsherida

Ronadl @Ronald_2008

Susan @sspellmancann

Stephanie @mrs_loomisphd

Irene @IrenequStewart

Catherine @catdartnall

Rosemary @rmdigitally

Sheri @grammasheri

AK @koutropoulos

Charlene @inspirepassion

Anny @Annycow

Matt @Matthew20031337

Madeline @madelinek106

The Jolt @AwoJolt

Esfandiyar @EsfandiyarKhan

Tania @taniatorikova

Morgan @MoB4884

Clare @slowtech2000

JoAnn @JoAnnJacobs6

Alan @cogdog

Jennifer @JenniferDenslow

Joe @joetynan

Hank @HankLerma, 

Jaap @Jaapsoft

Untertaker @untertacker

Prof Caritat @profcaritat

Sherri @edifiedlistener

Sue @sueinasp

Jenni @jennihayman

Judith @judith_ekn

Karen@karenatsharon

Irwin @irwindev

 Bart @barmilledu

Nanci @TheWB6

Denise @mrsdkrebs

Lisa @nobleknits2

Will @willgourley

Betsy @BetsyCallanan

Anna @anna_phd

Reference: #DS106 Daily Create: https://daily.ds106.us/tdc3306/ derived from #tdc3296 DS106 9th Birthday Party and Sarah Honeychurch Twitter thread

Here is a link to one of the remixes of the the poem . There are so many ways to remix. You can try some here in the poetry remix matrix.

You may be inspired to remix one day soon and if you do you might connect with some inspiring people and create a state of flow for yourself which is definitely good for your mental health. Have fun!