Sandra Cisneros, an accomplished poet, discusses her poem 'When in Doubt' and shares wisdom on embracing uncertainty, finding pleasure in life, and prioritizing generosity. The podcast explores the repeating refrain in the poem, the religious undertones, and the significance of the phrase 'when in doubt.' It also discusses navigating uncertainty and doubt through strategies such as choosing generosity, gratitude, and finding solace in natural elements.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Embrace Imperfection
When in doubt, embrace generosity, hospitality, and gratitude.
Engage with the world's complexities instead of seeking a perfect life.
insights INSIGHT
A Sharing of Wisdom
Sandra Cisneros's poem "When in Doubt" offers instructions for navigating uncertainty.
It evolves into a generous sharing of wisdom, revealing her personality.
insights INSIGHT
Finding the Sacred in the Everyday
Cisneros's poem suggests a sacred underpinning to everyday life, even mishearings.
The vendor shouting "gas," misheard as "Dios," illustrates this.
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Even in the most uneventful of human lives, uncertainty and doubts will inevitably intrude. When faced with those, what can you do to steady yourself? One suggestion: Turn to the poem “When in Doubt” by Sandra Cisneros, where she generously shares some of the wisdom that she’s gleaned over the years.
Sandra Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, performer, and artist. Cisneros’s most recent collection is Woman Without Shame (Knopf Publishing Group 2022). Her numerous awards include NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction, a MacArthur Fellowship, national and international book awards, including the PEN America Literary Award, and the National Medal of Arts. More recently, she received the Ford Foundation's Art of Change Fellowship, was recognized with the Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, and won the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. In 2022, she was awarded the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In addition to her writing, Cisneros has fostered the careers of many aspiring and emerging writers through two nonprofits she founded: the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation.
Poetry Unbound