A few years ago I was asked that question and I was surprised that I had to stop and think….hmmm. Yes, why? The title poem of my book, “Container Gardening,” has these lines:
apply attention
plainest form of love
And, that, I realize, is my answer, written into quite a few of my poems: I write to apply my attention, to notice.
When I am writing, everything around me seems to calls out, “write about me!,” “think about me!” “look at me!” I experience the world in a different way–more thoughtfully, more vividly. I’m more aware of the things that interest me, please me, anger me, terrify me.
Would I notice them as intensely if I weren’t writing? I don’t know.
I do know that the writing–even just the intent to write–gives me an extra dimension for taking in the world around me. It feels as if there is a kind of sacredness in this, an honoring of the time I have been given. Another poem, “In Anne’s Studio,” ends:
what is holy in this life
is noticing.
All we have, finally, is our time and how we choose to use it, what we think about, what we notice. Noticing is how I most want to use mine.
