Podcast: Samantha Reynolds on Poetry and Mindfulness

Do you ever stumble across someone online who makes you think she’s so cool, I’d love to meet her? I felt that way when I first found Samantha Reynolds, a.k.a. bentlily. She publishes one poem every day on her blog, which carries the tagline “the art of noticing your life”. When I had an idea for an inspiration panel at the local blogging and social media conference Northern Voice, I knew I had my opening. I sent her an email asking her to be on it with me. She agreed.

I was so inspired by what Samantha was doing that I wrote a poem for her. As I did, I could see why she finds poetry so appealing. Am I a great poet? Likely not – but there’s something truly compelling about the medium. Like so many people I last wrote poetry as an angst-filled adolescent. Once you strip away the hormones and the junior high drama (and whatever requirements your teacher imposed, if your last poem was a school assignment) poetry is like play. You choose words differently, and write about different things, than in the prosaic day-to-day.

I was thrilled when Samantha agreed to be a guest on my podcast. We talked about her backwards journey into becoming a poet, and what poetry means in her life. We talked about the reluctance many people feel in the face of poetry writing. And we talked about being willing – or unwilling – to unmask yourself online. If you’d like to cultivate more mindfulness in your life, if you’d like to hear the virtues of writing bad poetry, or you’d just like to soak up a little inspiration, you’ll want to listen to our conversation:

Interview with Samantha Reynolds on Poetry and Mindfulness [ 37:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Next week on the Strocel.com podcast I’ll be sharing an interview with Beth Terry, author of Plastic Free and blogger at My Plastic-Free Life. As you may be able to guess, Beth is dedicated to living a life without plastic. If you’d like to hear what inspired her to take that journey, or you’d like some tips for reducing your own plastic consumption, you’ll want to tune in. Subscribe to the Strocel.com podcast in iTunes, and you won’t miss a minute!

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