Changing the Conversation: Shakespeare's Sonnets 16-20

I want to change the conversation. I'm tired of all of the fighting about things that are out of our control. I want to invite you to have a listen to some sonnets, for the sake of something different. Even after studying only the first 20 sonnets, there is a noticeable difference in how I read the plays. The sonnets are tightly condensed and require solving like a riddle. The focus it takes to solve the meaning of these poems is a kind of mental training. It makes reading the plays a lot easier, but you also recognize many of the themes being taken up by characters. We need a more creative and thoughtful culture. We are still young, but it is time to start growing up. That means taking on some challenges and not always being captured by the daily news. We can be proactive and chart a course for calmer waters, and that's what I am attempting to do with this series. We should use culture to stage our debates and to settle our disputes. Imagination holds the keys to creative reconciliation. The problem is, imagination requires building and work. I invite you to read along as you listen. You will undoubtedly find some value in the process if you overcome the challenge of not understanding what the poem means at first glance. This alone is a worthwhile experience. To think that we know immediately is a sign of work that needs to be done. It seems like people have thought it through based on the aggressive tone that you find in public discourse, but there is not a lot of demonstration of the process. We don't get any of the training sequences behind the scenes that lead people to their intellectual positions. Instead, we just get the fights and the fighting is never conducive to learning. I want to take you behind the scenes of my intellectual development as I read Shakespeare. This is a task designed to grow our imagination's capacity, to strengthen our intellectual discernment, and to have fun while doing both. Thanks for listening! Here is a link to the full text of the sonnets: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/shakespeares-sonnets/