2013
I had a wee bout of angst as I stumbled upon the midpoint of my allotted span. Having roved about and started all sorts of things, seldom with any sense of completion, I felt it was high time to attempt some tiny modicum of self-discipline until at least the next birthday. I've scribbled in different styles for a while, including what might loosely be called haikus, so I mightily vowed to vomit each very day 17 syllables with no set theme or goal or rules - lotsquickly. Small steps and all that. We'll see..
I understand that classically haikus juxtapose two separate ideas, 'cutting' them together - that sounds a bit too taxing for me, although luck might sometimes have it. I also gather that it's a bit more complicated than counting English 'syllables'. Still, as I'm not writing in Japanese, and haven't had zen initiation into this mysterious essence, I thought I'd go with the 5-7-5 thing as a pretty arbitrary structure to help me try to condense any small insights/outsights of the day. For me, the most important thing is that it comes out quickly (and can be read quickly) - it's a pretty immediate thing that the conscious hasn't worked on besides possibly squidging and splicing into that small space.
I will try to follow the tradition of each piece being non-contextual and so able to have some standalone meaning - probably harder said than realised, so apologies if that doesn't happen! Sometimes I'll put a photo under the haiku - only if I've taken it about the same time as the words popped in, as this seems to be in the same kind of spirit; similarly, I only put 'recipes' for things I'm trying for the first time, fresh. And sometimes I'll put links (in lighter grey text) to books or films that I've ahem 'reviewed'; or to organisations, charities, pieces etc that seem interesting, good and, well, linked - but these links should spring from a haiku that I hope can be self-contained.
That birthday also roughly corresponded with my first anniversary of having chronic fatigue syndrome - hence some references to health, no references (to date) to work, and probably more than might be expected of the great outdoors. I'm obviously hoping some of that will change! It might also explain why I've got the time and disposition to write this kind of self-indulgent aboutness - I'm not very communicative in person at the moment, so it's probably coming out through this..
This blog is primarily for me as a kind of diary I guess - these daily dollops of drivel are less likely to get lost in the ether than on scraps of paper or even a book in my experience! However, I'd love it if anyone else is interested and finds they sometimes resonate. If so, please share by clicking on the facebook, twitter etc buttons below each post.
You'll find the first day's here. You can swipe or click backwards or forwards; and, if on an oldschool computer (not a mobile until I can figure that out), search by 'label' so that all posts with a photo, or about the sea or food or whatever, will then appear. As I write this after several months, the most popular labels seem to be photo (because I'm lucky enough to live in beautiful places and have time to get out into them), and buddhish and christianish. Because of previous difficult experiences (for me and possibly you), I want to point out that this isn't because of some covert mission but just shows I'm increasingly interested in both traditions after long absences from either. There's various ish labels - I'm interested in lots of traditions and none; imho any stuttering about the infinite ineffable will come from loads of perspectives and angles, and will always be 'ish'. Some will be clearly more related to a particularly tradition, but lots seem to be crossing lots/all, so for want of a better word, interfaith. If I had to label myself, I guess I'd go for quaker, but am loth to call everything quakish! As with all labels, it's fairly arbitrary whether it should be christianish, muslish, buddhish, etc, or interfish; or none of them.. I hope I don't cause any offence - please let me know if so.
And please have a look at the blogs page where I've put some links to other logs - there's some fantastic stuff out there. Let me know if you'd like me to link to yours..
Many thanks for having a look.
PS - 2017 birthday update...
A few years have now passed, and I'm certainly not writing a haiku a day anymore. That's partly because I'm thankfully well and working again; partly because I've been struggling to solve things through sonnets; partly because I still start and get distracted. Yet I'm beginning to come back to this, because, well, I like it. And little moments are worth seeing and even holding, as we let them go.