Issue 38 - Appearances

Hello and welcome to Issue 38 of my weekly email newsletter, Deep Life Reflections: Friday Five, where I share five things I’m enjoying, thinking about, and find interesting.

Here’s my Friday Five this week.

1. What I’m Reading

100 Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson. Collectable Edition.

Considered one of America’s most important poets, Emily Dickinson wrote more than 1,700 poems but only had ten published during her lifetime. Like so many notable artists throughout history, her talent went unrecognised during her life. Perhaps this was because of her revolutionary poetic style, characterised by new forms of rhyme, short lines, unconventional capitalisation and punctuation, and a lack of titles (less than ten of her poems had one). Once eventually published, however, Dickinson’s poems—described as “letters to the world”—revealed a level of contemplation and introspection about life, death, existence, and solitude so deep that readers continue to be drawn to her work today.

I bought this collectable edition to better understand and appreciate Dickinson’s work and life. Like most writers, she wrote about what she knew and what intrigued her. She observed much from the world around her to explore universal themes with finesse and feeling. Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation, and her works often touched on themes of the unnoticed or misunderstood aspects of life. She was considered somewhat eccentric by her townspeople, often wearing only white clothing and refusing to meet guests. Dickinson never married and most of her friendships are based entirely upon letters. She depicted the plight of a single woman in nineteenth-century New England, and her poems challenged conventional ideas about marriage and family.

Dickinson was an independent thinker and her work encourages people to be open-minded and embrace their individuality. But there is also something deeper. One of her most famous poems, ‘The Soul selects her own Society (303)’, speaks of the soul’s choice to shut the door on the external world, choosing deliberate isolation and a preference for self-companionship over the noise of the wider world. It suggests the sanctity of solitude, but also hints at the unseen complex emotional landscapes just below our surface.

I studied poetry as part of my English Literature course at university. It was my least favourite part of the course. I struggled to break through the ambiguity and often bewildering words and sentences laid out in front of me. My eighteen-year-old academic self was looking for certainty, not speculation. Thirty years later and things have changed; life’s journey has made me appreciate the reflective and introspective nature of poetry—and the poets themselves.

2. What I’m Watching

Dead Poets Society. Directed by Peter Weir.

Nominated for four Academy Awards, Dead Poets Society remains a film many rewatch. I’m one of them. It’s treasured for its memorable scenes, powerful messages about self-expression, and the performance by Robin Williams. Set in 1959, Williams plays John Keating, a maverick English teacher returning to the prestigious Vermont boy’s boarding school he once attended. Keating has important life lessons to impart to his young pupils, and poetry is his medium.

In his first lesson, Keating leads the students from the confines of their classroom to the school halls. He has them gaze at old black-and-white photos of former students. These faces, as young as theirs, are now long gone. It’s silent. He whispers to them: “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” From here, we watch the growing influence Keating has on these boys’ lives, teaching them the importance of thinking for themselves and not conforming. Why? Because progress is only made by those who ask questions.

The theme of “seizing the day” is central to the film, but there’s also a recognition of the inner struggles and pressure faced by its characters. We see this dynamic most in the two students whom much of the film revolves—one shy, the other popular. Both have to face their own demons, leading to the dramatic and tragic climax of the film before ending in hope and solidarity (the famous and stirring embodiment of Walt Whitman’s line, “O Captain! My Captain!”). Robin Williams’ own tragic death in 2014 adds a further layer of poignancy for modern audiences.

Dead Poets Society is a warm, human film. It’s beautifully shot, capturing the drama of the evolving New England landscapes through the seasons, with the crisp golden sunsets of autumn giving way to the bleak whiteness of winter, symbolically representing the characters’ emotional journeys and changing relationships.

Williams considered Dead Poets Society one of his favourite films, saying John Keating was the type of teacher he wished he’d had at school. One of my favourite lines in the film is when Keating tells his students, “The powerful play goes on, and you each get to contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

He’s also asking us the same question.

3. What I’m Contemplating

In both Emily Dickinson’s poetry and life, and in the film Dead Poets Society, there’s a recurring theme of hidden depths: that what is visible on the surface doesn’t always reflect the complexities beneath. These works highlight often overlooked details and unseen struggles, reminding us that appearances can be deceiving.

This theme was captured in a brilliant and moving short video I watched this week, produced by the English football team Norwich City for World Mental Health Day last month. If you only do one thing this weekend, please watch the video. It’s just two and a half minutes long, but will stay with you a lot longer.

While we can strive to “seize the day,” we should also do so with an awareness of the internal struggles faced by those around us. Recognising and respecting the complexity of our own lives, and extending that understanding to others, can lead to a deeper, more empathetic connection with the world.

Appearances, after all, can be deceiving.

4. A Quote to note

“That it will never come again is what makes life sweet.”

- Emily Dickinson

5. A Question for you

What part of your inner world do you wish people could see or understand better?

This week’s featured image is a portrait of Emily Dickinson by artist, Robert T. Sweeney.

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Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

James