The Art of Word Mining
November - April 2026
What I realized about writing poetry, while writing poetry, is that surprise, surprise, I really like words. I’m someone who's genuinely inspired by phrases, quotes, and passages (as cliché as that may be). How they come together to create something rich, something precious, something meaningful. How words can fill you with depth, can overflow you with emotion, can transport you to another realm, a reality, a moment in time or a new frame of thinking.
Just as there are gems, fine minerals, gold, within cavernous chambers of solid rock, I’ve discovered that books, articles, passages, poems, even the ethers of the internet, are much the same way. Within large bodies of work, there are often precious, invaluable, hidden gems scattered. These small texts transcend the purpose or intention of the document as a whole. They are universal.
I’ve spent a large part of my energy over the past several month (I’m now realizing), figuring out how I can best capture, honor, and refer back to this trove of words. How they can live with me, be guide posts, and wells of inspiration as I move through life. The simplest options have been staying up-to-date on a Pinterest board and annotating books as I read them. The most complex, the development of an iOS app that stores these messages on my phone, and sends me a notification every morning with a random quote or phrase from the collection. The one this morning was: “My energy is magnetic, contagious, and valuable!” Fitting.
Through this process, I also developed my own journal. Entitled “My Magic Life” this journal contains a collection of phrases, quotes, and affirmations that have been sourced through this process.
Not dissimilar to my app idea, this journal is meant to be used to regularly engage with beautiful, affirmative, inspiring phrases. It is meant to be used however feels right in the moment.
Some days, these affirmations are simply small reminders, other days, I use them actively - repeating the same good thoughts over and over down the page. Other times, it can be a prompt.
I’ve found journaling to be such a vastly unique and personal process, with no rights and no wrongs. And over time, these journals are ultimately such incredible reflections of my frame of mind at different periods of life, and to get the most raw, authentic version of my inner world.
