I recently started reading poetry, by chance of discovering a small, specialist poetry library near my office. It's been really enriching, and I've felt my appreciation and the enjoyment for poetry grow exponentially after I let go and stopped trying too hard. It used to always seem to be impenatrable to me, until I just accepted that some things would resonate with me and others weren't and not even everything by a specific poet would. But it's low commitment to give things a go.
I've mainly been astounded by something that, when I say it out loud seems obvious: everything I've felt, good and bad, has been felt by countless others and that's only counting those who wrote poems about it. And it stretches across at least as long as written history does. There's comfort in that alone for me.
My journey was similar. After walking through enough art museums and realizing that I only really engaged with and was moved by a few pieces and it was still worth it, I was able to read books of poetry much more calmly.
I've mainly been astounded by something that, when I say it out loud seems obvious: everything I've felt, good and bad, has been felt by countless others and that's only counting those who wrote poems about it. And it stretches across at least as long as written history does. There's comfort in that alone for me.