This World Poetry Day (March 21st), Viennese coffee roasters Julius Meinl, in partnership with platinum selling singer songwriter, Tom Odell, are asking people to take time out from the digital world and find a moment of inspiration, putting pen to paper with a poem.
The opportunity comes as part of the popular Pay With A Poem initiative, now in its sixth year, which has seen hundreds of thousands of poems written since its inception in 2014.
In the social media age, the internet has become the home of emotional sharing and a source of inspiration for millions of people, with quotes and short verse poetry appearing on every explore feed. As of today, the hashtag #InstaQuote has been tagged on Instagram over 11,471,222 times.
Despite our willingness to share, a recent survey found that over a quarter of under 34s would share as much as they would in a diary on social media and yet, UK millennials and Gen Z’s worry that what they post does not reflect their true self and lacks emotion. Of the same group, 25% agreed that writing something conveys more meaning than posting it online, with over a fifth of respondents stating that writing is a more effective communication tool than therapy.
In response, the Pay With A Poem initiative aims to facilitate moments of inspiration- asking people to pause- taking time out from the digital world to increase the potential to create something truly meaningful.
The idea is simple: those who pours for inspiration and put prose to paper on March 21st can use their hand-written poem to pay for a coffee or tea in participating coffee houses serving Julius Meinl in over 40 countries worldwide.
Speaking ahead of World Poetry Day, Tom Odell said, “The digital world is a space where I can sometimes struggle to find meaning. We see dozens of song lyrics, quotes and verse posted on Instagram every day, but how many of us can say we actually feel connected to that?”
He adds, “As anyone who follows me on Instagram will know, I am a real advocate of putting pen to paper. Whether I am at home, seeking inspiration over a morning coffee or travelling, I believe there is something very freeing in taking a moment out of the day to write. I will allow myself time to process thoughts and feeling about the subject matter first. The act of writing then means I am more considered in my approach to lyricism, and I hope that level of authenticity comes through in my work.”
Julius Meinl’s CEO, Marcel Löffler comments: “2019 marks the sixth year of the Pay With A Poem initiative, which is designed this year to facilitate moments of inspiration, with coffee and tea serving as the creative fuel, to encourage people to take the time to connect with themselves through writing. With a personal passion for poetry, we are thrilled to be working with Tom Odell to help make poetry even more accessible.”
Source: Julius Meinl
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