Since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, I have been publishing a lot to share our process of coming to terms with this enormous tragedy and from a counseling perspective to help our community manage the ever-present stressors that have loomed over us since that time. Consistent with recovery from traumatic events, one of the difficulties shared back to me has been atypical trouble with concentration. Rather than a blanket experience about a general loss of focus, a number of people have noted that only certain tasks are more challenging and that not all areas have been effected.
This struck a chord with me as during the second week following the tsunami I wrote a 5,000+ word paper and was more or less able to maintain my focus throughout the aftershocks and stick with a schedule. Conversely I experienced more trouble than usual seeing to mundane paperwork or other insignificant jobs.
Similarly, a friend of mine shared how she normally spends time each week in a coffee shop keeping a journal but that lately she has really struggled to put words to paper. She has gone to her favorite shop, sat at her favorite table, ordered her favorite drink, and opened the diary she has kept for years but nothing comes. As one of her tried and true constructive outlets, this inability to write has come as quite a shock. Perhaps because it is a less demanding task, she finds she is able to read but has difficulty accessing the inspiration to write. For her, perhaps starting with reading will be her entry point back to her previous process of writing and reflection.
One of the other things I have enjoyed doing over the past week or so has been a more approachable process of writing simple haiku poetry. On Thursday I was waiting in the car for a few minutes so pulled out my phone to take advantage of rare free time to learn something from an internet search. I opened the browser but unusually nothing came to mind. I wrote,
While I’m sure this isn’t great haiku by any standard, it was a great thing to focus on for a few minutes. During a time period where stress management is on many of our minds, this was a form of relaxation that I didn’t anticipate would be so beneficial.
One of the things I really like about the format is that Twitter and haiku go together so well. I have trouble imagining a haiku poem that is longer than 140 characters and with Twitter publishing/sharing is instant. The downside, however, is that these little gems (mine not so much gems but other people are better) have been lost to the archives of the web until now…
On my blog I’ve created a Twitter based Haiku section (click) where I hope to host and archive my and your Haiku poetry. To join all you have to do is let me know via Twitter (click) that you want to participate and I’ll add you as a contributor. Once you’re set-up as a contributor you can start writing and tweeting. Send out your haiku a tweet and put in the hashtag #haiku. It may take up to an hour for your tweet to appear on the site but it will be picked up.
Haiku is originally a Japanese form of poetry consisting of one stanza with a 3 line structure. The first and last line contain 5 syllables and the middle line contains 7. I look forward to any contributions you are inspired to make. – AC
Posted On: Monday, May 2nd, 2011
Posted In: Haiku
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