Welcome
I’m so excited about this little venture into the unknown:
Poetry & Purpose.
And extremely grateful for my early supporters here!
I enthusiastically posted my first poem without any introductions or housekeeping. So here goes…
I’ve written about 12 poems so far, which seem to be all over the place, from the depths of despair to the heights of joy, but sit within my opening theme:
A creative exploration of meaning through the power of raw words from the heart.
I’m going to the place of my own vulnerability, which I know lives in every other person.
To help you see possibility, overcome struggle, and lean into change.
It’s incredible how the poems come to me at the strangest times — when I am trying to sleep, in the shower, or while I should be working on something else. Ahh, the magic of creativity!
The (rough) plan
I plan to post one poem weekly on Wednesday morning my time. A nice little “hump day” treat to get you through the week.
But I may sporadically post a few more than that in the first few weeks to boost my published back catalogue for attracting new subscribers.
But I am mindful of not getting too far ahead of myself and posting them all now, in case my wellspring of creativity happens to run dry temporarily.
Please engage
Please do respond with any feedback or insights generated. That’s the magic and fun of doing this in an online platform like Substack.
The future
I’m thinking of adding some commentary posts in the future on the underlying meaning of the poems. But again, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself for now.
And one of the most fascinating things about poetry is how a verse can draw out multiple meanings for different readers through the filter of their life experiences.
A note for critics
I have no background or “training” in poetry, so what I am doing here may not be considered “poetry” in its pure form. I’m simply following my inner creative muse and expressing what comes out of me. There will be plenty of misfires and missteps, I’m sure. And I will be channelling some heroes. So please bear with me as I figure things out and settle into my unique voice.
Who am I? What is going on here?
You can learn more about me at my website — mattkhead.com
You’ll also find my social media links there.
Oh, and I’ve just added an “About” page here.
I’ll also post it below for those already subscribed to now receive via email:
About me
Hi, I’m Matt.
I’m a former accountant who is now following his creative calling in the online creator world.
It all started with a yearning inside for something greater.
I was becoming exhausted in my corporate career. And I was about to become a father for the first time.
Life was too short to waste on something unfulfilling.
I knew I was destined for something more.
So I started experimenting.
I began my quest for meaning with my newsletter My Creative Calling — a weekly deep dive into one big idea at the intersection of creative work and personal growth.
But recently, I was blessed with an unexpected gift:
Poetry.
What? Wasn’t I a number cruncher, the furthest thing from a poet?
Well, not really. It was buried in me all along.
What seems to be said so suddenly, has lived in the body for a long, long time.
— David Whyte
I randomly discovered David Whyte through the Sam Harris Waking Up meditation app, where he did some guest sessions.
I was subtly hooked.
I didn’t even notice it creeping up on me, but my life was being infused with poetry.
I re-listened to David’s poems on the app over and over.
I started purchasing poetry books and subscribing to David’s lecture series.
I was well and truly hooked now.
I still don’t know exactly what’s going on there.
But my inner muse is being drawn to something.
Something I have no control over.
Poetry is language against which we have no defences.
— David Whyte
I wrote about it in my newsletter #63, Your Most Vulnerable Work: The Image In Your Mind. I’ll excerpt a portion here:
A poetic conclusion
So I had this wonderful getaway weekend.
I came back feeling refreshed.
Just what the doctor ordered.
A new man.
And I was extremely chuffed with my breakthroughs.
Why am I telling you all this?
This rewarding experience of stepping outside the daily churn of “busy work” and paying deep attention to the mundane led to another breakthrough.
One I did not see coming.
Late Sunday night, I was lying in bed and could not sleep.
I suddenly felt called to write a few lines down.
What do you mean by lines?
Well... Poetry.
The inner critic chimed in:
“What?”
“You are not a poet.”
“What are you doing? Go to sleep, you idiot.”
And I almost did turn the light off and go to sleep.
I usually have a pen and notepad by my bedside for thoughts, but today I didn’t.
I didn’t want to pull my phone out. That was a massive no-no as all the well-intentioned sleep expert productivity bros keep telling me, “No blue light after 9 pm”.
But then I remembered one of my favourite quotes from Kevin Kelly:
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, “I don’t need to write this down because I will remember it.”
— Kevin Kelly
It hit me. I won’t remember these lines that were calling me.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and they would be lost forever.
No, now was the time to rise to the call of that inner poet.
Capture the goodness pouring out of me.
I knew I was in a strange emotional but creative state after the unforgettable weekend I had just had.
“Strike while the iron’s hot.”
I remembered more of what Nick Cave said:
It requires a certain conviction to trust in a line that is essentially an image, a vision — a leap of faith into the imagined realm.
I’m hoping that the image will lead me somewhere else that will be more revealing or truthful than a more literal line would be. It’s a matter of faith.
— Nick Cave
Have faith. Let’s roll with this intuition.
So I whipped out my phone, turned the screen brightness down, and set to work, jotting down whatever appeared in my mind.
Next thing I had the bones of four poems.
It was such a strange experience, as I had no idea where this was coming from. It was like “the muse” pouring out of me.
When that muse appears, you’ve got to capitalise on it.
It reminds me of Rick Rubin on Lex Fridman’s podcast:
I feel like I am channelling ideas from somewhere else.
I believe we all are, though. I believe we’re vehicles for information, that when it is ready to come through, it comes through, and the people who have good antennas pick up the signal.
But I’m sure you’ve had an experience in your life where you have an idea for something, and you have not acted on it, and eventually, someone else does it, and it’s not because they’re doing it because you had the idea and they stole your idea, it’s because the time has come for that idea, and if you don’t do it, someone is gonna do it.
—Rick Rubin
And so, a new chapter:
Matt, the poet.
Matt, the poet... Haha, not sure about that. Makes me laugh.
But seriously, I want to play with this unexpected joy that has popped up and keep writing my little poems each night before I go to bed.
I’ll keep exploring the images, drinking from the source and channelling this muse, the poet.
It seems like it’s coming from somewhere else, not me.
And so I better walk the talk of something I preach:
Show your work
But how?
I don’t want to bombard the My Creative Calling email list with potentially unwanted poetry, so I’ll be sharing my poems here on my Substack — Poetry & Purpose:
If you’re interested, please subscribe.
I dwell in Possibility,
A fairer House than Prose.
— Emily Dickinson
Who knows where this will go? Hopefully, it isn’t another curse of shiny object syndrome. Still, I think it’s important to share what I am already writing and show up authentically in the spirit of “My Creative Calling”.
And I am convinced of the power of poetry to save a life. I’m reminded of this video where Ethan Hawke says:
So you have to ask yourself, do you think human creativity matters?
Well, most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry, right?
They have a life to live, and they’re not really that concerned with Allen Ginsberg’s poems or anybody’s poems…
Until their father dies. They go to a funeral. You lose a child. Somebody breaks your heart. They don’t love you anymore. And all of a sudden, you’re desperate for making sense out of this life. And has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud or the inverse — Something great? You meet somebody, and your heart explodes. You love them so much you can’t even see straight. You know, you’re dizzy. Did anybody feel like this before? What is happening to me?
And that’s when art’s not a luxury. It’s actually sustenance.
We need it.
— Ethan Hawke
It may stay a fun little passion project. Or, over time, it may explode into a bigger thing.
I’ll leave you with my tagline for this project:
A creative exploration of meaning through the power of raw words from the heart.
I'm going to the place of my own vulnerability, which I know lives in every other person.
To help you see possibility, overcome struggle, and lean into change.
If you are intrigued, join me by subscribing below.
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