You get to a certain age where you know who you are and you don't have to apologize for that or feel like that's even required.
Like, I understand, too, that my perspective on things and my sense of humor are not everyone's.
When I'm writing, I'm not really speaking to everyone.
I really want to think about the things that I'm making becoming part of somebody else's life.
The best book, the best songs, the best poems are sort of lenses that once you've spent time with them, you view the world and your experiences differently.
After you've read it, it becomes this lens that you see things through, and it changes you.
So what if a poem could change your life?
Have you ever read something that felt like it literally cracked your world open, giving words to experiences that you thought were unutterable?
My guest today, Maggie Smith, she experienced exactly that, but not as a reader, as the writer of the poem good bones.
After being rejected by many journals, the poem was eventually published online and quickly became this global phenomenon.
Her life would never be the same, but in so many ways, she never saw it coming.
Maggie is the renowned author of multiple bestsellers and award winning poetry collections, with work appearing in top publications.
In her memoir, you, could make this place beautiful, which I loved, Maggie just unflinchingly explores the disintegration of her marriage, contemporary womanhood, her renewed commitment to herself, really weaving together snapshots of life with meditations on secrets, anger and narrative itself.
In this deeply honest conversation, Maggie shares how in the early days, music actually became her first poetic teacher, allowing her to transcend the constraints of plot and really distill pure experiences into lyrical language.
And we explore the fateful chain of events that led to good bones and the publication that captivated millions during a collective moment of trauma and suffering.
And Maggie doesn't shy away from the contradictions in her path.
We dive into how mega success also revealed chasms in her marriage and life, how she leaned on art to help metabolize hardship and the liberation.
In embracing lifes unanswerable mysteries, she offers insights that will really resonate with any creative soul who has grappled with the complexities of success and relationships and honoring their truest self.
She unpacks the solace of solitude, the courage to live unresolved mysteries, and the simple keys to her own version of the good life.
So whether you're a longtime admirer of Maggie's work or being introduced to her poetic wisdom for the first time, this conversation is a true exploration of beauty, truth and the regenerative power of vulnerability.