From Perfectionism to Poetic Freedom

My Daughter's Journey to Writing with Confidence

My daughter struggles with perfectionism. Four years ago, she wouldn’t do anything that she didn’t know for sure she could do perfectly. She was 6 so that meant - reading, writing, math - basically everything.

Writing was particularly challenging. Kids have a hard time writing at that age anyway, and she wouldn’t write words if she couldn’t spell them or she didn’t know if they needed a capital letter. As you can imagine, it was paralyzing.

The first thing that made a difference? Poetry.

Whenever I write about poetry, people’s eyes glaze over. Most adults see no value in it.

But poetry was like a warm, comforting blanket for my daughter.

I’ll never forget her face when I told her…

It’s poetry, it doesn’t have to be spelled right, doesn’t need capital letters, doesn’t even need to be a sentence. You can write anything and whatever it is - it’s perfect.

That was the first day I saw her write something she loved.

It was simple. She wrote all the things she loved in her life around a heart. It’ll never win any awards, but it’ll stay with me forever (picture below).

Angel’s (age 6) first poem

Writing is now her favorite thing to do.

Today, she wrote…

“The massive lake stretched out like a reflection of the heavens.”

Two weeks ago, this…

"As the goats bleated & grazed, a little girl peacefully watched. The sun's radiant rays reached out to grab her but they only hit an old broken tree."

I can see these places in my mind.

My daughter’s experience taught me that poetry, when thoughtfully employed, can unlock a perfectionist’s mind allowing them to discover the beauty underneath.

If you have a reluctant or struggling writer, consider poetry—it's so much more powerful than you think.♥️

If you need help getting started with poetry, you might enjoy THIS article with 12 easy first poems for children to write.

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