Deconstructing Self-Improvement.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Polish Before You Shine.

Hello WordPress, today I want to talk about why I think that the term self-improvement is over saturated. A thought crossed my mind today about creative collaboration. It stems out of a twitter post I saw that showed a picture of some writers from The Simpsons collaborating with each other over fast food and soft drinks. Now, if you were to take away the context of all these people being writers from the Simpsons– you would almost feel sorry for them. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were writing for a major TV show, they would seem like they were quite mundane or rather ordinary. My point is, is that any one of these people could have been doing something else, but instead they decided to create one of the most popular cartoons over burgers and soda. This is a task that would have been much much harder for any single writer to accomplish on their own.

Strength Lies Within the Numbers.

There are tasks in this world that are simply easier to accomplish with more than one person. For example, take a look at the stock market. It doesn’t matter if you are the Houdini of picking stocks if you don’t have the capital to invest. That is the exact reason why these investment firms are combining their capital together in order to invest into a larger payout based on the gross percentage of profit earned among all of the people who shared their capital.

If that example doesn’t work for you, try this one. Imagine that you are Dwayne The Rock Johnson and you really want to fight and defeat a Silverback Gorilla in an all out brawl. There are no weapons involved and you would be fighting the gorilla in an open field. It would be naive to think that you could simply approach the gorilla in a 1v1 head on match-up because the gorilla is simply stronger. But… if there were lets say 5 Dwayne The Rock Johnsons, it would be a different scenario. It would still be a close drawn out battle but I am confident that the squadron of “Rocks” would be able to conquer the king of the jungle.

In conclusion, there is strength within numbers and that is a relatively valid cliche. It is easy to go at things alone if you are a self-motivator like me, but it is smarter to go at it with friends, family and partners of every sort. Even a true adventurer like Link from the Legend of Zelda series needs a companion. Even if that companion is an annoying orb of light that talks and provides you with sub-par guidance throughout the entire game.

“It is dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

Old Man who gives Link a sword.

Shared-Improvement.

All in all, self-improvement comes second nature to those who show self-care. The real fulfilling nature of chasing your dreams lies within the idea of chasing those dreams together. To share your experience with others in order to reach towards something that is mutually beneficial to everyone is the greatest opportunity we have as humans. We are stronger together but the times drift us apart. This is a call to action for those who understand what it means to enhance the world around us. When times get tough and we fall short of our goals– we need to remember this. Everybody brings something brilliant to the table, everybody can create and everybody is unique. Learn together, create together, share together and most importantly– learn from one another.

Mindfulness. Empathy. Creativity.

Reminiscing On My First Written Poem

The Devil’s Advocate 

Written in March of 2017

He who does not withhold his wit nor demeanor.
His conversation travels a two-way road filled with intersections and roundabouts.
He understands that his words are not to be redeemed.

A man whose beliefs are strong and sure, but longs to walk on both sides of the path without crossing the dotted line. 
A jack of all trades who fears commitment, but was called upon to embrace his true purpose through mediation and moderation.

Nevertheless, communication is irreversible and concrete to its full intention. 
Open his eyes and see that contemporary conversation is much like wine that longs to be restored unto water.
For only water may be used to quench the thirst of those it has abandoned.

After stumbling across The Devil’s Advocate poem this morning, I instantly recognized a variety of things that I really liked about this piece. Upon further reading, I also found an assortment of things that I thought I could improve on.

To start it all off, the reason why I was searching through my old journal is because I have not been writing nearly as much as I feel I should be. Part of this situation roots itself in my new found hobby of editing pictures on GIMP. Nevertheless, I feel like I could use some writing momentum to jump right back into writing poetry. I have picked up a new book that serves as an introduction into poetry. As a result, I now realize that I have not been using any form of structure or prose within my writing. My mission now is to cover the fundamentals of poetry prior to my attempt at writing a collection.

• 

There are 2 main aspects of The Devil’s Advocate that I am proud of when observing in hindsight:

1. I am proud of the message and theme being addressed
2. I am proud of the subjective connotation that encourages the reader to look over the poem more than once.

At the time of writing, I was taking a Human Communication and Technology class at Texas State University. I was also reading a lot of books that revolved around mindfulness which paired well with the lessons being taught in class. I was really frustrated with how little people talked around campus and even more frustrated at the amount of students walking around staring at their phones. The Devil’s Advocate lays out this hope for a genuine conversation.

Finally, the two main points that I think I could have done better are:

1. The Poem is confusing and hard to follow along.
2. There is not nearly enough Imagery of the road. I think more imagery would allow the reader to better grasp the message underneath.

All in all, I feel more confident now that I have started learning the fundamentals of poetry, and I am excited to finish the Introductory book. Hopefully next time I post about a poem I will have already grasped the concept of rhythm and structure. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear your thoughts soon!

Semi-Poetic: The End Is Near

It is no secret that I am not an expert when it comes to posting on social media or creating content. Although, I now have a better understanding as to why these two things are so important among public relations professionals. Social media gives every user the ability to touch an audience that is much larger than they could ever imagine. In contrast, I have found that blogging has not been the most effective way to reach a larger audience, but it has become a very interesting tool for self-expression.

My Best Post

The Semi-Poetic blog post that received the largest amount of both interactions and views was the “My Plans With Poetry” post.  This is my most recent post and it received 14 views with 11 visitors.  I believe that this is because it involved something more personal than just talking about poetry, and It included some personal insight as to what I plan to do with poetry. The tweet with the link to this post received the most retweets and I think that this played a major factor as to why it got the most views. Additionally, this post was the most fun to write because I was excited to see how my friends would react to the news of a possible poetry collection.

The Reach

Hello to all my foreign viewers! I was completely caught off guard whenever I opened the analytics and saw that multiple people from foreign countries had viewed my posts. Some of the strangest places for me included viewers from India, Singapore, Russia and Rwanda. Maybe these viewers are a form of bots, but I would like to think that these are actually my personal foreign fans who anxiously prepare for my next post. All jokes aside, I think that social media, blogging and having an online presence will reach more people than anyone could imagine as long as they are producing quality content. I fully plan on using both of these mediums in my later career to help reach a larger audience.

The Details

One thing that I have learned from my Fundamentals of Online Media class is that the quality can be found in the details. Even the impact of just adding a photo to your posts on any form of media can cause a serious increase in views and interactions. The “categories and tags feature” is also great for searching other blogs that are similar to yours, or to just help create a community of content creators who share the same interests. The Goodreads side bar is a brilliant widget that gives the website a more contemporary feel. If I could improve the website I would want to create a photo gallary page that will allow me to showcase all of my very own photography.

The End

I have not completely decided if I am going to end the blog whenever the class ends. I see potential in blogging and also it forces me to be a better writer and at times it forces me to be more organized. Whatever decision I make will not affect the new way that I feel about blogging and it’s various benefits. It has been a great semester and I have learned more than I could have ever hoped to learn. Make sure to follow me on twitter and Instagram to receive updates about what is to come.

My Plans With Poetry

As you may know, I enjoy writing poetry just as much as I love reading it. Lately, I have been thinking about working towards publishing my very own collection. I need a lot more content then I have produced so far, but I believe that it is an achievable goal. Honestly, I believe that all goals are achievable but this one in particular I think that I can accomplish within a year of writing.

The Obstacles

I do work during the summer and I am enrolled in school during the fall, so the hardest part will be finding time to write. I know this seems like an easy task but I am working on being more of an organized person. I also need to find someone who can be honest with me and tell me if my poetry has potential. I believe that everybody has the ability to write poetry, but not every writer has the ability to connect with an audience. In a recent interview I conducted in one of my classes I asked my girlfriend what she thought poetry was and how it is taught in schools.

The Result

Besides the obvious benefit of self expression I would hope to somehow profit off of my creation. I am a Public Relations major and I have a core network of friends who would surely buy the collection out of support. All I have to do on my part is to deliver a quality collection that displays the potential I have to be a great writer. Stay tuned for what will come and thanks for reading.

 

East vs West: Poetry Coast to Coast

Unfortunately we are not going to be talking about Tupac vs Biggie. It’s a hard pill to swallow but instead I would like to talk about the differences between Eastern poetry and Western Poetry. Also, it is important to understand that I will be making broad generalizations about the East and West that are not reflective of every piece of literature or poet.

The East

Eastern poetry and philosophy go hand-in-hand with each other. What I have observed about Eastern poetry is that it is less about getting a point across. I believe that Eastern poets tend to embody a characteristic of wisdom. When I am reading Eastern poetry I often feel as if I am being mentored or taught by someone who has truly experienced a source of Enlightenment in their life. The words are more subjective and a certain verse or poem may seem as if it has changed every time you read it.

The West

In contrast to the East, Western poetry seems more impacted by it’s culture and environment. It focuses on the reader or the individual more so than the expression of the poet. Whenever I read Western poetry I look for the “goal” of the poem. Much like writing for a newspaper, the poems like to prioritize the main idea that the writer wants the reader to understand. I believe that this is caused by the fact that readers nowadays do not like to read for a very long time. Shorter lines and more obvious ideas make it easier for readers to understand and experience the poems.

Which Do I Prefer?

I prefer to read Eastern poetry because the collections of poetry always seem to be more organized and thought out for the long term read. Considering that I mostly read collections of poetry, it makes plenty of sense that I enjoy reading the poetry that comes from a more collective society. I think that Western poetry is really great for individuals who may be searching for answers or for creating awareness. I think that Harlem Renaissance poetry is phenomenal at creating awareness and addressing problems. All in all, I like having poetry that picks at my emotions and thoughts and these are qualities that I find within Eastern poetry.

Urban Poets

by Cole Lamkins

There are poets living among our pop culture and we call them rappers. Poetry lives within authentic hip-hop and yet I truly feel that most fans of the culture still don’t comprehend the subjective value behind it’s lyrics. I was inspired to write about how poetry and hip-hop go hand-in-hand due to a Spotify playlist I recently encountered titled “Urban Poets.” An Urban Poet is a MC (rapper) that has a unique ability to tell a story in a poetic fashion through their creative use of lyrical ability and rhyme.

The Argument

If hip-hop is poetry then all music is poetry right? I can agree to a certain extent, but fundamental hip-hop is different because at its core hip-hop is a collection of creative expressions in the form of verses that come together to form a whole. True hip-hop artists look at their songs as having a bigger concept and will purposefully produce music that will influence their audiences in a specific way.

Tupac

If you don’t believe me then check out the book “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” by Tupac Shakur. Many hip-hop heads (including myself) believe that Tupac  is the greatest artist to ever have laid their hands on a hip-hop track. Tupac once said during a police interrogation that he initially started writing poetry in high school, and that this happened before he started to rap.

Tupac then said later in the interrogation that “it is of my opinion… that I was rapping while I was writing poetry, and so I was into rap I guess you could say from junior high whenever I wrote my first poem.”

All in all, I think that I am going to have to agree with Tupac on this one and say that hip-hop is very much so a form of poetry. Urban Poets exist and hip-hop artists around the world are taking poetry to a larger audience that has not quite been reached by the traditional poet in the past.

Subjective storytelling

by Cole Lamkins

What is a better way to catch a reader’s attention than to figuratively take them on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven? I guess that is the question that Dante asked himself whenever he wrote the Divine Comedy in the early 1300’s. One very important factor that separates the poetry found in The Divine Comedy and a lot of modern poetry is that Dante writes The Divine Comedy as a narrative in the form of an adventure.

What is narrative poetry?

A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story and has a plot according to Dictionary.com. When I think of narrative poetry I tend to think of poetry that is storytelling.

Poetry that is written in the form of a narrative can potentially have a much larger impact on it’s readers in contrast to a collection of poems that conceptually connect but don’t interact with it’s reader.

Narrative poems often times seem captivating because whenever you start to read them you get dragged into the story line and eventually become a bit emotionally invested. One of the reasons this happens is due to the poets ability to use intense imagery to help establish a setting for the reader to immerse themselves into.

Another reason that narrative poems captivate readers is because the character dialogue creates a feeling of relativity, or interaction within the poem. People like to relate poetry to things that are going on in their own lives, so any connection between a situation within a poem and a situation in the real world feels as if the poet is speaking directly to the reader.

In conclusion, if you are ever looking to read something that you can immerse yourself into but don’t have time to read all 585 pages of Moby Dick. Try picking up some good narrative poetry to read from your local bookstore. My favorite from the genre is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.