{"id":622,"date":"2025-12-03T20:41:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T20:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2025-12-04T02:38:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T02:38:00","slug":"finding-meaning-reading-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/finding-meaning-reading-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Meaning Reading Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brad Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading poetry may be beneficial for a few reasons. One of these reasons may be that it fosters a sense of meaning in life. In my book, Finding Meaning<\/em> (2007), I describe seven sources of finding meaning in life. One of these sources is purpose. We may find a sense of purpose in life partly by learning something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some poems may provide insights concerning experiences and ideas that can be viewed as life wisdom. For example, consider the following poem (in quotes) in my book, To Look Beyond the Surface<\/em> (Bell, 2025):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Meaning of Everyday Jo<\/strong>y<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gazing intensely
at an amazing sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laughing at the ironies
of mundane life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiencing tears of joy
with unexpected good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling a sense of tranquility
walking in the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiencing vicarious joy
when helping a stranger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being fascinated
with the discovery
of new ideas.

Feeling blissful
with a free-flowing
conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiencing joy
creating a unique
abstract painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening intensely
to an amazing song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling happy knowing
you have no worries
at the present time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These everyday reflections
open our eyes to see
what is beyond
the opaque surface.

Our eyes brighten with
amazing glimpses
of the sparkling images
emerging from a vast ocean
of everyday joy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above poem seems to convey the idea that joy can stem from a number of experiences in everyday life. This may be considered reflecting important life wisdom. It may suggest that we should focus on what is significant about everyday experiences to find greater joy. This greater joy might foster a greater sense of purpose in one’s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bell, B. (2007). Finding meaning<\/em> (3rd edition). Portland, Oregon: Blue Fox Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bell, B. (2025). To look beyond the surface<\/em>. Portland, Oregon: Blue Fox Communications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brad Bell Reading poetry may be beneficial for a few reasons. One of these reasons may be that it fosters a sense of meaning in life. In my book, Finding Meaning (2007), I describe seven sources of finding meaning in life. One of these sources is purpose. We may find a sense of purpose … Continue reading “Finding Meaning Reading Poetry”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meaning","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions\/634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologyandsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}