Risk Writing Option: Live Poetry - Essay Example

At the onset, I would like to define what my personal concept of a comfort zone is. Being a relatively timid and conservative person, I value traditional views, maintaining a small circle of friends, appreciating solitude and opting for simple and basic joys in life. I have always acknowledged the need for privacy and personal space that allows me to spend time alone, in retrospect and in constant observance of the ever changing world around me. I like to hang out only with my family members, relatives and the closest of peers, who I would be sure would not antagonize me or make fun of me when I make mistakes.

In the contrary, being out of my comfort zone is viewed as taking risks in expanding interpersonal relationships, sharing one’s feelings and thoughts to others, and socializing in parties or school gatherings, and performing in front of an audience. Any activity deemed to be undertaken for the very first time where the outcome is definitely ambiguous is scary and uncomfortable. Any endeavor that would require me to express myself in front of people other than my family, relatives and my close friends, is already deemed stepping beyond my comfort zone.

I could never forget the first time I was required to make a presentation in school for a project to be delivered in front of my classmates. The time prior to the activity had been the most excruciating period when I tried to practice the presentation I have to make and project potential mistakes that I could commit and the embarrassing feeling that could ensue in the process. By putting myself in that perspective, I tried to simulate the different outcomes that could possibly result, including the feelings that I could face and manifest.

In so doing, I gathered enough strength and confidence to master my craft and prepared me for the required presentation. It is there and then that I realized that going beyond one’s comfort zone could be liberating. Through my academic experience, I have recognized my appreciation for literary forms of art, including poetry, short stories and novels. I marvel at the way writers have gained competence in creating innovative stories that have made me laugh and cry at the same time. The initial immersion to live poetry came as a surprise when one of my closest friends invited me to a literary festival.

I was so amazed at the talents of artists who delivered poetry using precise diction, grammar, pronunciation, rhythm and expression that assisted the audience in being emotionally enthralled by their performances. I immediately realized that through live poetry, these literary works become spirited and cognizant of all the emotions that were originally intended to be relayed by the poets. As I absorbed the experience of being an observant and an audience to a live poetry performance, I secretly pictured myself as one of the participants of performed poetry.

From the compilations of famous poems that I have encountered in various academic disciplines, I tried to perform in front of a mirror with just me as the actor and the audience. I tried to read a poem, “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning, calmly and simply – without pacing or intonations; without expression; without life.