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How Alison Malee Inspires Self-Love In All Of Us

By
Ashleigh Angel
Alison Malee modern poet, instagram
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Alison Malee gets the struggle of healing from life while you continue to live it. Her work rounds some of those sharp, cutting edges.

We could all take a page out of Alison Malee’s book. Malee’s poetry speaks from a place of whimsical romance and self-love. Malee is known for her books Shifting Bone and The Day is Ready for You, in which she shares her lessons on heartaches, healing, and finding herself.

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I often feel like I am struggling not to take up too much space in a room. I often feel like I am fighting to take up the most space. I am always trying to fit, and more often than not, that leaves little room for grace or comfort. Anyone that knows me well knows that my wheels never stop turning. I am always moving, always jumping from one project to the next, always ten steps ahead on something and three steps behind on something else. I write poetry, but honestly, I love almost everything the world has to offer. I share this with you all because this space should be about more than pretty words, though words are some of the most impactful things we can give to each other. I think it is so important to have as much human to human connection as we can, even if that means just putting ourselves out there on the internet. (But hopefully that also means you will spend time with family and friends, or even make a new friend out in the real world today.) To those of you that are new here, hi! I’m Ali. I am a human who is struggling just as much as you are to do all of the required human things and somehow be successful at a few of them. I am working to be gentler on my heart. I am working on speaking to myself with more kindness. I will probably not slow down anytime soon, but I AM learning to rest when I need to. Tell me something about you.

A post shared by Alison A. Malee (@alison.malee) on

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br1iRMHnQUn/

Malee created a tight online community of 148 thousand fans and uses social media to cultivate those relationships. She regularly opens up about adoption, self-discovery, and being hopeful. She shares her hardships to create a safe space for her fans to both give and receive support– with her, and between one another. By exchanging messages and advice with her fans to frequent Q&A’s, she encourages the #instapoet community to heal together, line by line.

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i was born in 1994. my life has grown and shifted, split into thousands of different paths and realities piled on top of one another. today it occurred to me that looking at pictures of myself as a child makes me want to reevaluate the way i talk to myself as a woman. we are (i am) often so quick to berate ourselves, to speak down to ourselves, to belittle and judge our own thoughts and actions. as i sorted through old photographs this afternoon, i had this clear, startling moment. look at this little face. this little innocent face that is an almost exact reflection of both of my daughters. what would i say to her if she were the one looking back at me in the mirror? would i be more patient with her? would i allow her more room for error? would i give her more grace? more kindness? how would my inner dialogue change? how would yours? here is my challenge for you this week: speak to yourself as if you were speaking to this version of you. the toddler, elementary school, middle school, high school version of yourself. the one that needed a friend. the one that needed a guiding hand. the one that didn’t feel pulled to speak down to herself. the one that knew love because she gave it to not only to herself but to others freely. tell me, what would you tell yourself at that age if you could?

A post shared by Alison A. Malee (@alison.malee) on

Botanical influences and representations permeate her work. She employs succinct language against the iconography, and as you read her words you can’t help but feel a rush of acceptance engulf you. Malee’s poetry has always been about the entire experience of life, the joy and the pain and everything in between. Whether you cozy up with her book, chat with her on Instagram, or both, she sets (and maintains) a high standard for authenticity and community in the contemporary poetry community.

Her most recent piece of work, This is the Journey, comes out April 2 and is available now to preorder. Until then, you can find us melting into her dreamy aesthetic one Instagram post at a time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsMr0XOHL0z/

Keep up with Malee on Instagram (@alison.malee) or check out her website: Alisonmalee.com.

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