Achieving the Therapeutic through the Poetic: Instapoetry as a Powerful Roadmap for Hope and Healing in Rupi Kaur’s The Sun and her Flowers and Home Body, Najwa Zebian’s Sparks of Phoenix, and Alexandra Vasiliu’s Dare to Let Go

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between poetry therapy and instapoetry. Therefore, it highlights the vital role of instapoets in drawing a powerful roadmap for their readers toward self-understanding, self-esteem, and self-forgiveness. This research shows how the instapoets Rupi Kaur, Najwa Zebian, and Alexandra Vasiliu help their followers to trace their path of reclaiming the self through teaching them to set healthy boundaries, find inner peace, and restore balance to their lives. As life savers, the three instapoets daily publish on instagram pieces from their poetry books The Sun and her Flowers (2017), Home Body (2020), Sparks of Phoenix (2019), and Dare to Let Go (2022) in order to keep up with their mission of seeding gardens of hope and enlightenment within the hearts of their readers. Therefore, the major theoretical work we draw from is Nicholas Mazza’s theory of poetry therapy. We precisely focus on his RES model that places a strong emphasis on the significance of writing and reading poetry in healing the self. This article proves that the act of writing and sharing poems on insatgram serves as a purging cathartic tool for instapoets. This creative outlet allows instapoets to confront overwhelming feelings such as pain and trauma. Reading instapoetry is therapeutic for the insta-followers because it not only provides a gateway that profoundly dives into their inner selves, but also effectively gives voice to their buried feelings, and contributes to the betterment of their mental health and spiritual growth.

Key words: healing, instapoetry therapy, letting go, self-understanding, self-love.