Build a Community Around Your Passion | Ideas for Action

“Poetry can be a vehicle for facilitating understanding and acceptance,” says Dorothy Langlois Epstein, an idealist from San Francisco, California, USA. “It is very accessible since it takes just a few affordable materials and can be brief—it is what anyone wants it to be.” Dorothy, a poet, visual artist, teacher, and traveler, has always felt the power and benefits of creativity in her life. 

That’s why she started the Facebook group, Conspiracy of Poets, and shared it with the online Idealists of the World community. “As an idealist,” she notes, “I feel that the expression and sharing of any constructive creative endeavor can have infinite benefits.” The group is a place for lovers of poetry and art to gather, share resources, links, and poems they enjoy—even create and post their own poetry.

Once the idea came to her, it was hard for Dorothy to let it go. It was during a stormy night in El Salvador that she made the first move. “While spending hours day after day under the overhang of our small cabin during fierce thunder storms, the impetus arrived,” she says. “I felt ready to provide a space to share information, ideas, and inspiration to folks of all levels, anywhere in the world via the internet.” 

Since its inception, Dorothy has been scouring the internet and populating the group page with photos, prompts, links, and opportunities for discussion, all geared towards facilitating that creative spark. “I hope that people will have a sense of connection through Conspiracy of Poets,” she says. “Even if they don’t interact directly with other members, they might make connections in mindful, metaphysical ways through reading, hearing, or viewing the entries. There’s no obligation for members to respond or share. I want people to feel comfortable and welcome about contributing."

“Despite the group’s infancy,” Dorothy says, “I already sense the potential for its capacity to bring people together in positive and productive ways through the process of creative expression.” Through Conspiracy of Poets, and uniting people from all corners of the world and every walk of life, Dorothy hopes to foster a sense of community around their shared passion. Among the many inspirational quotes she has posted in the group, one seems to sum up both the purpose for Conspiracy of Poets, as well as the beauty and power of poetry itself:

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