What is Poetry & Purpose?
Is wisdom
something you get when you are older, or does it have nothing to do with age?
I remember discussing this with my Dad:
I thought then I would be wise by now – I am not.
And I know why. I am a child of America in the 70s – this is when prosperity turned from a reward for hard work to the norm, and my life, like so many American lives, revolved around myself instead of some greater good.
I had no children, I never went to war or engaged in some kind of big risky venture. What I know, I learned in school, in libraries and from books. That is not wisdom.
But it is too late to go back and change that now. All I can do is use the skills I have to search for as much wisdom as I can find in the time I have left.
Those skills – I have lived in two cultures – in Germany and America – and can recognize the illusions of both; I have seen many changes in many years, from the moon landing to the Internet, from the fall of Communism to the rise of Wokeism, from the folly and arrogance of youth to the frailty and neediness of all human life; and I know books.
I am not one of those naive worshippers of literature who believe writers have some kind of cosmic authority (after all, Hitler was a writer, and so was Marx), but I do know books and how to judge them. And so I know what I must do:
Turn to the old books again, this time searching them not for literature or a beautiful turn of phrase; and likewise look back over the time I have witnessed, not in nostalgia –
but to find the basic, timeless truths we have forgotten.
That is what Poetry and Purpose is about.
Our 1st book about purpose
The George Washington Rulebook of Achievement
My new book – and the first in a new series from my own publishing house Hula Ink.
For men and women seeking to achieve something in this life:
This is the classic book of behavior that George Washington famously used to shape his personality and learn habits of behavior that would make him successful in society and in his calling.
In the end, this was the book that set him on the path to becoming a great man.
This is the modernized, expanded edition that includes rules of behavior from the ages and from modern research.
What you will get from Substack or Patreon
You will find our Substack newsletter valuable if you are:
– searching for purpose and meaning, or want to become a person capable of achieving something in life; or
– if you write or want to enhance your creativity and understanding of life through writing.
In our free section,
you will find the lessons and insights I have learned in my life and am still learning today:
– from 60 years of life as an outsider in two cultures and on two continents – as a haole in Hawaii and an Ami in Germany;
– from my quest to find purpose, meaning as spirituality, and the truth about the confused world we live in;
– from my fight with depression and life with ADHD;
– from my study of the great books and poetry of the great thinkers in history.
Our exclusive section
is for writers and those learning to write – in it, you will find:
– practical lessons on the craft of storytelling;
– tips on how to enhance your creativity and find meaning and purpose in life through writing;
– my experiences in the world of professional writing, but also as one who explores life through writing.
This exclusive content, "Writing is a Sacred Act," is available to both my Substack subscribers and my supporters on Patreon.
If you are someone who consciously thinks about their lives and the world they live in;
if you are driven by a desire to create or achieve;
if you write or are learning to write,
you will love this newsletter.
Subscribe now!
