Be a Poet

In George MacDonald’s book On the Back of the North Wind, the North Wind explains to the boy Diamond that a poet is someone who sees something good in the world and then helps other people to see it also. I love that definition of a poet, but I also love the implication that anyone who helps others to see the good in the world is a poet.

I love to read poetry. I love to write poetry. I love language. But a lot of modern poetry is not about seeing the good or helping others see the good. Somehow the literary world has lost its avocation of good and has become an advocate of reality as if reality is a given that can't be disputed—but reality is something we all create. We each have our own reality that we create for ourselves.

So I’m proposing that we all be poets using George MacDonald’s definition. As you walk through your day, see the good, and be a poet--share the good in whatever words you have. Then watch the magic happen as your own reality grows more beautiful.