Daily Writing Challenge & An Inspirational Read
I’ve never been one to read magazines. Frankly, the kind of magazines women are expected to enjoy consist mainly of fashion advice and celebrity gossip. I’m happiest in jeans and a media distorted version of a person I’ve never met before holds little interest. If like me you’ve not found a magazine that inspires you, you need not hold up your hands in despair any longer. I have the answer –
Breathe. This magazine’s tag line consists of: ‘Wellbeing, Mindfulness, Creativity and Escaping.’ Now that is something I can get behind.
Their 12th and very recent issue has a fantastic article in it written by Sarah James called ‘Tea, Poetry and Peace’. As you can imagine, this is so up my street that it’s banging my door down. Sarah talks about how she set herself the task of writing 100 haiku-influenced poems in 2014 to ‘lift her spirits’ and remind herself of ‘the small joys in life that (she) often overlooked.’ One poem per day for 100 days.
When I read this I realised it would be a great way to help me get into a daily writing practice. I struggle to write every day and envy those writers who do. I’ve become a lot kinder to myself about this over the years as creativity is not something you can force. You can’t bully creativity, you have to be patient with it and soothe it when it’s feeling vulnerable. However, setting myself the task of writing a daily haiku-influenced poem seemed like the perfect way to get me into a daily practice without my creativity going into toddler mode, having a tantrum and throwing all its toys out of its pram.
I therefore pledge, to you dear readers, that I will write one haiku-influenced poem per day for the next 100 days which aim to capture the small joys in my life and help me practise gratitude. I cross my heart and…….. something something……stick a needle in my eye. Although, on second thoughts, I’m not promising the last bit because I don’t fancy poking my eye with a needle if I slip up…
One of Sarah’s suggestions that I think will really help me is drinking a cup of warming tea as I write and taking a sip to bring me back to the present moment if I find my thoughts wondering. Mindfulness, tea and writing – that’s a winning combo if ever I’ve come across one.
If you struggle to write daily or would like an alternative way of keeping a gratitude journal why not try this with me? I’d love to read some of your own haiku-inspired poems. Just post in the ‘leave a comment’ section below.
To read Sarah’s article, follow this link:
https://www.breathemagazine.com/portfolio-item/breathe-issue-12/
Happy reading and writing!
L x
PS: If you don’t know already, a haiku traditionally consists of three lines with the first containing 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables and the third 5 syllables. There are a number of other techniques involved in composing a haiku such as including a season word and not using rhyming words, but this is a basic starting point. My aim is to write with an awareness of the present moment, as is traditional, but as mentioned above, be inspired by the haiku rather than strictly adhering to it’s form.