How to See Yourself

First blog ever, I now feel the burden of what others spoke of; this is hard!! I will begin by examining a new favorite poem of mine that was introduced to me in class last week. 'How to See Deer' is the title and it is written by Philip Booth. Right above this poem on the same handout is one by my absolutely favorite poet, Mary Oliver, so when I read Booth's and fell in love with it, I was surprised because I liked it as much as Oliver's work and that almost never happens! "How to See Deer" seems to be a list of "to-do's" for a person in order to, well, see a deer. But, like all other writings, it has a deeper meaning.
First of all, Booth makes a point to appreciate nature, telling the reader to "inhabit old orchards" (7) and to "learn to read ferns" (15). Lines like this always make me think about what the subject can do to me if I were to inhabit an old orchard or "read" a fern. For me, nature and naturally occurring cycles on earth, like flowers blooming and the sun rising, bring me peace and contentment. I honestly fill up with joy and feel as light as a feather, smiling as I witness something as pure and perfect as nature doing what it does best, creating and bringing life.
Booth also seems to promote peace. This is a huge value of mine, my father fought in the Vietnam War, and I have grown up with the effects of war my whole life; I would never wish it on anyone. Booth says "Go nowhere with guns." (2) Of course, in the literal sense, he is saying don't bring your gun in order to see a deer, but I do love this line because I am assuming that he encourages animal rights and isn't for the killing of innocent animals.
One last value that Booth mentions in his poem is patience. In the fifth line of his poem, he writes "stay and be early:", in the twelfth, "find your luck slowly," and in the thirteenth, he also says, "Wait out the windfall." No one can ever have enough patience, in my opinion, but I love how Philip Booth managed to jam so many great life lessons, ideas, and values into such a short poem.
My favorite line in the whole poem lies on the eleventh line, though: "Expect nothing always." Since I laid eyes on that line and comprehended what he meant, I have been trying to live by it...I am a very organized person who needs structure and plans, and when those plans don't go as I thought they would, I often get upset. So I have been trying very hard to realize things don't always go as planned..which has been hard a hard lesson to learn, but if I learn to "expect nothing always," my journey to happiness will be much smoother.