April--It's All Invented

Good morning. How are you today?
The man in the story sees only obstacles when he speaks of the countless starfish
To follow the usual route of reproach and blame
And NO MISTAKES
They find nothing and, bitterly disappointed, abandon the search
Downward spiral
Nothing more than to run away and crawl in a hole
Surviving in a world of scarcity and peril

Too many starfish, not enough time, not enough staff or resources, results too difficult to track…
I berated myself for not being able to handle my own anxiety

What assumption am I making,
That I’m not aware I’m making,
That gives me what I see?

What might I now invent,
That I haven’t yet invented,
That would give me other choices?
We can ask ourselves, what now do we want to create?
It certainly makes a difference to this one

The new assessment, like a box, defines the limits of what is possible between us
Recasting the tight pattern of scarcity
Into a widespread array of abundance
Such a notion is almost unthinkable
This is my first white sheet
Through all my nervousness I had to laugh

It’s all invented
In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold
The mind constructs
Let your thoughts and actions spring from the new framework and see what happens
These are moments where we forget ourselves and seem to become part of all being
Before you know it, the word “perfect” may just pop out
And you will be smiling
And suddenly it was all true
I can’t wait for tomorrow because I’m in love with today, hard work, and reward… what can be better?
It’s all a matter of invention
I became a new person
And with that, she sailed out into a universe of possibility


It's All Invented is a found poem that I wrote. All of the words are from the book, The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander. This poem fits in with April because that is the month of the junior and senior squash nationals. Over the past three years, I have struggled with confidence in my squash game that is always magnified during important matches. In April, it is more important for me to always remind myself of how I create and put pressure on myself when I could be thinking from so many other more positive perspectives.
In this poem, there is mention of countless starfish. The story is that there were hundreds of starfish that were swept and stranded too high on shore and were all dying. There were two men who wanted save the starfish. The first man, only sees all of the creatures he will not be able to save because there are simply too many of them. There are too many starfish, too few people, and too little time; he does not even bother because it would not matter if he could only save a few. The second man, however, was unperturbed and started relocating the starfish into the water. Asked by the first man as to why he even bothered, he said that it made a difference to all the starfish that were saved.
The hyperbole used in the first few lines is used to show how the negatives can be grossly magnified so easily. My poem is about how perspectives can change so easily and quickly and that it is all in the head. It is about how important perception and thought process plays a huge role in how a person thinks and how that can be changed.