Christmas tree goes up,
The house bright with festive cheer,
As too are our hearts.
Like The Melting Snows
A demanding week;
But ordeals all pass away
Like the melting snows.
Patient Expectation
A dream can come true
With patient expectation
And a grateful heart
A Cheery Wag
When help seems distant,
The endless road is shortened
By a cheery wag.
Through Power Of Will
The highest mountain
Becomes the smallest molehill
Through power of will.
Thirty Days of Journalling ( With Added Haiku)
I’ve been meaning for a while now to experiment with journalling. It feels like the subject has come up repeatedly in a variety of places and the Universe is trying to tell me I should pay attention. Most recently, after re-watching Gladiator for the hundredth time, a Youtube video suggestion about the journalling habits of renowned Stoic and ‘Last Good Emperor’ Marcus Aurelius popped up. By this time, I had to wonder if the Universe is really that shallow, or was it just talking to me in terms I could understand? Either way, I could hold out no longer and decided to give it a go.
Initially I had reservations about the mental stamina required to process my thoughts at the end of each day, but then another article popped up ‘out of the blue’ about haiku, and a cunning plan emerged: If I could challenge myself to write a suitable haiku for each day (which sounded like fun), then I would already have gathered my thoughts ready to ’journal’ them afterwards (a double win).
Armed with a copy of ‘Meditations’ to help get a feel for the process, my journalling experiment is underway. It turns out that bad haiku are quite easy to master, but the process of refining them is very satisfying; the events of the day are called into focus as required in the search for something that will fit.
My other concern about journalling was that of repetition, not having something original to say about every day (a criticism often given by newcomers to Marcus Aurelius’ work, apparently). But it has occurred to me, and I may be wrong here, that there are two distinct sides to the journalling experience; one is about enhanced clarity in the search for meaning in the events of daily life, the other is about reinforcing desired habits and patterns of thought by repetition. The plan is cunning in its simplicity; it just remains to be seen if it actually works.
Ask me for my thoughts When thirty moons have risen, Has focus sharpened?
Who knows, by the time 2024 is almost upon us, I may be writing a post about 365 days of journalling with added haiku; I’ll get back to you on that one…
Returning
I think of my wife
And long for her returning,
Health in full restored.
On A silent Road
A long day is done
Snow falls on a silent road
As I fall asleep