Maggie Smith: Writing in a Way That Is Brave, Real, and True

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Tami Simon

Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bestselling poet Maggie Smith has a gift for embracing the complexity of our human experience—and for writing about it with piercing intensity, clarity, and beauty. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Maggie about her approach to her craft and to life, and how writing can serve as a pathway to self-discovery and release.

Featuring a reading of the beloved poem “Good Bones,” this insightful episode of Insights at the Edge explores metaphor and life in sensory experience; poetic memoir; Maggie’s “drill-down” exercise; entering the territory of our pain; balancing a creative life and domestic responsibilities; the notion of “containing multitudes”; being an integrated, whole person; intuition and the deep knowing of what is brave, real, and true; sitting with the splinters (instead of sanding them down); allowing “full wingspan” for both individuals in a relationship; endurance versus closure; forgiveness versus acceptance; taking a bird’s-eye view of our experiences; making life more beautiful for everyone; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends, my name is Tammy Simon, and I'm the founder of SoundsTrue, and I want
0:06.8	to welcome you to the SoundsTrue podcast, Insights at the Edge.
0:12.0	I also want to take a moment to introduce you to SoundsTrue's new membership community
0:17.1	and digital platform.
0:18.6	It's called SoundsTrue1.
0:22.0	SoundsTrue1 features original, premium, transformational docuseries, community events,
0:29.0	classes to start your day and relax in the evening, special weekly live shows, including
0:37.1	a video version of Insights at the Edge with an after-show community question and answer
0:43.0	session with featured guests.
0:45.7	I hope you'll come join us, explore, come have fun with us, and connect with others.
0:51.8	You can learn more at join.soundsTrue.com.
0:56.5	I also want to take a moment and introduce you to the SoundsTrue Foundation, our nonprofit
1:02.4	that creates equitable access to transformational tools and teachings.
1:08.7	You can learn more at soundsTruefoundation.org.
1:12.6	And in advance, thank you for your support.
1:16.3	In this episode of Insights at the Edge, my guest is Maggie Smith.
1:21.3	Maggie Smith is an award-winning poet, writer and editor.
1:26.0	She's the author of The New York Times Best Seller.
1:29.7	You could make this place beautiful and we'll be talking about that new book by Maggie.
1:36.1	She's also the author of Keep Moving, notes on loss, creativity and change, along with
1:42.8	several books of poems, including Golden Rod and Good Bones, which was named one of the
1:49.8	best five poetry books of 2017 by The Washington Post.
	...

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