Poetry saved my life

I have just spent the last two hours creating this blog, trying to think of a name and what I will write about. What should my page look like, how do I get the picture centered and small enough to fit? This is, after all, my first ever online journal. I have always stuck to the old-fashioned way, carrying a pen and notebook with me at all times. Something has inspired me to enter this realm though. Maybe its because I have been spending my days lately dreaming of a day when I can go on tour across Canada performing spoken word. Maybe its that I have accomplished only the beginnings of what I moved West from Calgary two years ago to do. I've been writing, performing, and slamming (oh yes, competition!) like a madwoman, trying to improve my abilities on stage and of course, my poetry. I was lucky enough to be involved in the organizational team here in Victoria that hosted the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word last year, and was amazed at the people I met and the talent that was seen throughout the week. It inflamed my already strong desire to write and get better. This season I have been competing all winter and the chances of being in Finals night look good. I want this, for more reasons than I have time or capability to share at 3am. Let's just say that I survived an incredibly troubled youth, and I credit two things with getting me to where I am today; one of them is poetry. This is my passion, my dream, as cheesy and incredibly flaky as it may sound.