By Kaylie Seed
Rupi Kaur is an extremely well-known poet. She has written a number of poetry collections and continues to be a favourite among poetry lovers around the world. In September 2022 Kaur published Healing Through Words, a collection of guided writing exercises meant to get you writing while also diving deep into your personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This guided tour is meant to be a journey back to oneself and a mindful exploration through writing. Part self-help experience, part writing exercise collection, Healing Through Words is meant to evoke creativity and a genuine sense of healing.
There are a number of themes that are explored throughout the book and a lot of them push writers to really dig deep and come face-to-face with topics that can be uncomfortable. Kaur notes that if any topic feels like too much or if the writer is not ready to address certain aspects of their life, experiences, or self, they can skip portions of the exercises. While writers are encouraged to explore trauma, loss, heartache, love, family, healing, and celebration of the self, Kaur also reminds writers to first take care of themselves and take breaks as needed or omit sections altogether and return to them if and when the writer feels comfortable to do so.
I personally love to both read and write poetry, so having the opportunity to work through these exercises was cathartic and helped to reignite my love of writing in general. Kaur put a lot of thought and care into the exercises that she created for Healing Through Words and what is so lovely is that you can continue to go back to these exercises whenever you are in need of some inspiration or really feel like digging into the uncomfortable parts of yourself. I recommend Healing Through Words not only to writers, but to those who are looking to know themselves better or address things in their life through writing.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.