Honoured

Today I was truly honoured by somebody sharing a poem with me that they had written.  I could understand her saying that she didn’t think she was a poet, but what she gave was from the bottom of her heart.  It was a glory that only someone who was writing with true sincerity could produce.

And I must say I truly felt blessed.  Not only that she shared with me but that it was a true reflection of her life and experience.  It was an entry into her world that was private and I believe very few people see.  A creative person shares their very soul when they create and sometimes it can be deeply personal and private - not to be shared with the world, but themselves and maybe one or two others.  

I also had the honour and privilege of telling her that she wasn’t correct.  Although she writes prose, the poem she sent me is better than she thinks and created in process with her own journey.  What she has isn’t better than me, but the best that SHE is.  So she IS a poet as well as a prose writer.  Sometimes we don’t understand the full stature of what we are until another person recognises it and tells us.

As a creative person myself, I know the joy and pain of sharing some things online.  Sometimes there is a thin line between sharing and not.  I don’t know about others, but there are times I believe it’s right for me to share things in case others need to receive it and know they are not alone in the world.  And it is personal for each creator.

So if someone is willing to share their soul to me, it is an honour that I accept gratefully.  Because I know what it takes to create and also to share.  The secrets of another soul are precious and amazing!  We don’t bare our souls to every person we meet.

Years ago, it took a friend who encouraged my writing and taught me that she valued all that I said or wrote that she saw.  She found some competitions to enter me in for and I had 4 poems published in four different books with her help.  Now, when I look back I feel honoured that she spent that time with me to ensure that my initial entry into the writing world stayed alive.  That I felt myself valued and the creative spark within me bore fruit which encouraged me to keep going.

So the choices are simple.  We need to be inspired to create and shared with whomever we please.  And if someone shares something with you, remember they are honouring you in the telling.