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Home > Expressing and exploring spirituality

Expressing and exploring spirituality

Poetry and Stories

It has been found that chaplains play an important part in spiritual care, understanding and recognising spirituality is useful for all healthcare professionals. Nurses, doctors, therapists, and other caregivers can benefit from knowing about how spirituality can support your wellbeing.

A notebook amongst flowers.

Examples

Expression of Spiritual and Religious Beliefs.

Writing and poetry provide a way to show your spiritual and religious beliefs in a deeply personal way. Through the use of metaphor, symbolism, and imagery, individuals can express their connection to the spiritual.

Example: The works of Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet and mystic.

Contemplation and Self-Reflection

Writing and poetry allows you to express yourself and your spiritual experiences.

Example: The poetic works of Mary Oliver, a renowned American poet.

Connection and Conversations

Writing and poetry can connect you to your community. These go across time, cultures, and generations. Through shared stories and poetry, you can find what you have in common with others and understand them better.

Example: The works of poets like Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Pablo Neruda.

Addressing Personal Challenges

Writing and poetry can be therapeutic. By putting thoughts and emotions into words, you can can sometimes see things more clearly.

Example: The poetry of Emily Dickinson.

What price sanity?

Lisa Barker describes her experiences in the in the article ‘What price sanity’:

'I was, it has to be said, as mad as a snake. I'd be rapping to great poets and artists, living and dead; passing judgement on death; talking to my telepathic lover; saving creation for the women; living the great creation myths and making a few more up as I went along. My mind was stimulated, and while no-one else would agree with me about my beliefs it didn't matter – I knew they didn't, I knew they wouldn't or couldn't, and I knew they never would. Within my insanity, I was happy and free and perfectly able to function in 'their' world too.

Lisa Barker

Lisa was medicated against her will and became depressed and suicidal at the loss of her belief system, which she felt was ‘systematically eroded by the mental health services’. She describes beliefs as being the most precious thing a human being can possess and without them life has no meaning. Lisa believes it is dangerous to class certain beliefs as acceptable and to medicate others away.

Consider more:

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