Try Poetry or Prayer With Your One Word
{One Word 2023 April Linkup}
Link all of your One Word blog posts below. Share an update about your One Word in the comments.
You don’t have to be a poet or a priest to take this month’s suggestion for your One Word practice.
Tap into your inner self by finding or creating a poem or a prayer about your One Word.
Poetry
For poetry, you might google poems online with your word. Or if you’d rather create your own, you can compose a haiku or assemble an acrostic. Try writing a sonnet or experimenting with blackout poetry. Or you can abandon any structure at all and write free verse.
Find “25 Different Types of Poems to Explore” here.
My poetry with my word HUMAN:
1. I composed a haiku.
What is a human?
A presence able to blush
In self-awareness.
2. Here’s an acrostic I put together.
H – Hallowed
U – Unique
M – Mindful
A – Astir
N – Neighbor
3. Using notes I’d already compiled from How to Human by Carlos Whitaker, I created a blackout poem.
From this:
To this:
How to Human
Hold a conversation to instinctively band together. Remind the world to be honest. You were created to be bold and confident.
Find people and love them. The bare simplicity of our humanity: love God and love others.
Prayer
You can adapt prayers recorded in the Bible or in books that relate to your word. Or if you choose to write your own prayer, you can form one around a scripture. Or write a prayer of thanksgiving, praise, or confession. Or maybe a prayer of blessing or intercession for others.
My prayer with my word HUMAN:
God,
Weave our human hearts tightly together. Fill our human spirits with kindness to neighbors. Give us vision to see humanity in strangers. To divinely love, love, love.
~ * ~ * ~
However you choose to engage with your One Word this month, stay intentional about its presence and work in your life.
There’s nothing magical or mystical about a word, but if you plant it as a seed inside you, wonderful things can grow from it.
If you do compose something, we’d love to hear it! Let us know in a comment here, link up a blog post below, or share in our One Word Facebook group.
This April linkup for One Word updates will remain open for two weeks through midnight on Sunday, May 7. Each link shared here will also be shared with our One Word Facebook group.
Next month’s One Word linkup will open on Tuesday, May 23 (every One Word linkup in 2023 will open on the 23rd).
If you’d like to receive our monthly One Word emails .
Are you sticking with your word of the year so far? Is it easier or harder than expected? Did you write a poem or prayer about your One Word?
Leave a comment here about your One Word.
I had no idea there were so many types of poetry!
I know! I didn’t realize there were so many ways to write poetry either. I’m impressed by all who can write poetry. 🙂
This is so creative, Lisa. You have so many ways to work with one word throughout the year. Our daughter-in-law has a sign on her shelf that says, “Be a Nice Human.” I always think of you and your word. 🙂 Love and blessings to you!
That’s an awesome sign for your d-i-l to have and that you remember me when you see it. 🙂 I actually bought a shirt a week ago with that same saying!!!
Such wonderfully creative ideas, Lisa. I might just have to challenge myself to a poem on my word, “mindful.”
Blessings!
Your poems are so creative, Lisa. I don’t have any poetry to share, but I do have a story that relates to my word, “remember.” We sang a song in church this morning that takes me right back to a difficult season. As we sang, it was like a video from that time was playing in my mind, complete with breaks in the music where I heard people saying various things that I remember very clearly. It was pretty emotional for me, but not exactly sad. More of another opportunity to think about everything that happened and be able to trace God’s faithfulness throughout. Which is something I need to remember now too. Hugs to you, friend.
The phrase “find people and love them” really stands out to me. We’re always looking for ways to “help,” and some of our misguided assumptions and definitions of “help” may arise from our insufficient understanding of what it means to be human.
I’m enjoying your word journey this year!
Wow, Lisa! Who knew? This One word is bringing out the best of you! I love these variatons. I started wring poetry decades ago. I’ll have to ask the Lord for some inspiration. When He gives it, I’ll be sharing it here! God bless you, sister.
Wow, these are such creative words to dive into your One Word for the year! I had not heard of blackout poems and found yours to be so powerful!
Thank you for providing a space to dive deeper into our one word for the year. I have heard of a blackout poem but I loved seeing it visually in your post. It is more powerful as a blackout poem.
Once again, I learned something new. I love coming here – you challenge me and also open my eyes to things. Now I’m obsessed by all the different kinds of poetry. Perhaps the rest of my One Word posts will present themselves as poems.
I appreciate the creative ways you work with your One Word, Lisa! I find the blackout poem a fascinating way to bring all your book quotes together in one place.
I love your poems!
I’m afraid I’ve neglected my words somewhat this past month. Part of the time we were on vacation and then I was busy, but I have thought about them. My post today is poetry of a different sort (ReVerse) but includes my words and/or descriptions of them. I love your poems! I haven’t done blackout poetry in a while. I might have to try that again. Blessings to you, dear Lisa! xo
Lisa, this is such a wonderful idea! I have been exploring my writing roots recently and getting back to poetry, so I am definitely going to give this a try with my word for the year – elevate.
Thank you so much for sharing this post with Hearth and Soul. I will be featuring it at the May Edition of the party which goes live on Sunday 7th May. Hope to see you there!
I just found this post today, sorry! I love your poems — your haiku and prayer are really beautiful!
“Celebrate” is as hard as I expected :/ Do you know the Notion app? I like it a lot — I’ve started using it to note things to celebrate as they happen. So far it’s mostly yoga, but it’s a start.
Really love your human creativity here, Lisa. Bravissima! Tres bien fait! Well done!
xo
lynn