Poetry, Mindfulness and Travel, pt.2

I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to try and write poems to help focus my attention on my surroundings and improve my memory of travel. Photographs can capture reminders, but too often I'm not fully present in the location when I take the photo. Maybe I'm wondering where we should eat lunch, or how late we can check-in to our AirBnB or whatever. When that happens, I look at the photo later and only remember that I was there; my memory of the place is disappointly shallow.

One of my daughters and I recently visited Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Maryland's Eastern Shore. We were on our way to Chincoteague, Virginia, looking for a place to explore on our way, and we picked Blackwater off of a map that morning.  The only thing we knew about it before we arrived was that the visitor's center would be open.

It was a great day, and I'd love to go back someday when I have more time, but that day was exactly the type of wonderful travel day I'm likely to lose in a blur of being "a hurry." (From the great poem by Seamus Heaney, discussed in my first post about this.)

I knew I wanted to try to capture my impressions in a poem later, so during our visit I was more attentive to how the air felt, what exactly I was seeing, and what I heard. Because I knew I only wanted to write a poem for my personal journal, I could allow myself just to experience the place. If I had been thinking about how to write a description for other people, it would have taken away from just being there because I would have slipped into research mode. I love researching, and a more thorough knowledge of a place can enhance our travel, but the time for research online is not when you are in the place itself!

I wrote a pretty terrible poem about the place, but it's important for me not to worry about how good the poem is as a piece of writing. Knowing I wanted to write it helped me be more mindfully present in the moment and has helped me remember the feel of the place much more deeply.

I imagine this is similar to the experience of visual artists who make sketches of things they want to remember.

I wrote a few phrases down that night that described the view from the low causeway in and out of the refuge. Then I wrote my terrible poem.  I'm sharing it because I want to make it clear that the quality doesn't really matter as long as it helps me be more mindful to prepare to write it, and if it brings back memories more clearly. I happy to say it really did work.