The ears of my ears awake

Journal article


Field, V. 2020. The ears of my ears awake. Transpersonal Psychology Review. 22 (2), pp. 82-90.
AuthorsField, V.
Abstract

Many people have experienced an ‘awakening’ which has led to positive changes in their lives, and a sense of an enhanced reality. In ‘The Leap’, Steve Taylor (2017) documents the different catalysts for an awakening experience and describes how a transformation may be gradual or sudden, conclusive or temporary. In my work over the past twenty years using poetry therapy techniques with groups, I have often witnessed how a poem facilitates insights and acts as a portal into an enhanced reality. This familiar experience was suddenly made new for me when I read an account by Eckhart Tolle of the first flowers blooming on this planet (Tolle, 2005). Taylor (2017, ibid) notes that spiritual literature can facilitate awakening. He describes how poetry ‘encourages stillness in the reader’ because it requires attentiveness and receptivity. In this reflective essay, I will look at three characteristics of poetry as an art form that may be factors in facilitating awakening, namely: form, rich ambiguity and metaphor, and include reflections on the similarities between poems and flowers.

KeywordsPoetry; Poetry therapy; Awakening; Form
Year2020
JournalTranspersonal Psychology Review
Journal citation22 (2), pp. 82-90
PublisherBritish Psychological Society
ISSN1366-6991
2396-9636
Publication process dates
Deposited13 May 2021
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Permalink -

https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/8xv6x/the-ears-of-my-ears-awake

Download files


Accepted author manuscript
The Ears of My Ears Awake by Victoria Field.pdf
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File access level: Open

  • 59
    total views
  • 118
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

The Pilgrim-Writer: The transformative potential of the language arts and pilgrimage – an embodied investigation of self, drawing on theory and practice, including my own direct experience of contemporary pilgrimage and ‘languaging’.
Field, V. 2022. The Pilgrim-Writer: The transformative potential of the language arts and pilgrimage – an embodied investigation of self, drawing on theory and practice, including my own direct experience of contemporary pilgrimage and ‘languaging’. PhD Thesis Canterbury Christ Church University School of Humanities and Education Studies
Identifying the mechanisms of poetry therapy and perceived effects on participants: A synthesised replication case study
Alfrey, Abigail, Xenophontes, Ioanna, Field, V., Springham, Neil and Holttum, Sue 2022. Identifying the mechanisms of poetry therapy and perceived effects on participants: A synthesised replication case study. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 78, p. 101882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101882
Identifying the mechanisms of poetry therapy and associated effects on participants: A synthesised review of empirical literature
Alfrey, Abigail, Field, V., Xenophontes, Ioanna and Holttum, Sue 2021. Identifying the mechanisms of poetry therapy and associated effects on participants: A synthesised review of empirical literature. The Arts in Psychotherapy. 75, p. 101832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101832
Creative-reflective inquiries and wellbeing in organizations
Field, V. and Taylor, A. 2021. Creative-reflective inquiries and wellbeing in organizations. in: Wall, T., Cooper, C. and Brough, P. (ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Wellbeing London SAGE. pp. 449-462
Not Utopia but maybe...:Sustainability stories
Field, V. 2020. Not Utopia but maybe...:Sustainability stories. Canterbury Canterbury Christ Church University.
Stuff as dreams are made on
Field, V. 2020. Stuff as dreams are made on. Journal of Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. 1 (1), pp. 14-17.
Creative writing for health and well-being
Field, V., Wall, T. and Sučylaitė J. 2020. Creative writing for health and well-being. in: Leal Filho, W., Wall, T., Azul, A. M., Brandli, L. and Özuyar, P.G. (ed.) Good Health and Well-Being. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Springer.
Baggage - a book of leavings
Field, V. 2016. Baggage - a book of leavings. London, UK Francis Boutle Publishers.