Compassion: An Acrostic Poem

Apr 29

I met Alison back in 2014 through our mutual friend Liz Corwin. Alison helped me considerably during the two #22ADayChallenge events MalaforVets ran. Perhaps we should try another??? Anyway, Alison is an amazing human with heart of gold. After reading this Acrostic poem, I feel we need more of these for this campaign.

I'd like to write a Compassion Blog!

When asked if I could write about what compassion means to me, I began brainstorming ways to convey my thoughts. The first idea I had was to write an Acrostic Poem. I didn’t know that’s what you called them at that time (thank you, internet!), I just knew I loved writing “those poems where you had to create a word or thought for every letter” when I was in grade school, and it sounded like a fun way to explore this topic. However, almost immediately after the idea arrived it was met with internal judgment. My insecurities came to the surface; that little voice inside my head was saying, “People will think you don’t know how to write professionally,” and “You’ll look stupid.” I gave pause to the idea for a week or so, stunted by that initial turmoil. Then, in a moment of reflection, I realized COMPASSION was exactly what I needed to move forward. While technically the definition of compassion is related to what we feel and can do for others, it many times can and should be applied to ourselves as well. I needed to have compassion for myself; the experiences that led me to believe that writing an Acrostic Poem was somehow unworthy (even if I have no idea what they were), the shame I felt from not being able to overcome that internal judgment sooner, and so many other nuanced emotions that came and went while simply trying to make the decision of how to write about what compassion means to me. So, below you will see my Acrostic Poem about compassion. Though simple, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Come as you are

Open mind

Mindful

Participate

Appreciate differences

Show interest

Sympathy

Introspection

Oneness

Needed