Vital Haiku
Our friendship is made
of being awake
- Rumi
I have an invitation for you. It’s free and it’s playful – an interesting way to be reflective as well as pause and see the world. It’s a mindfulness practice I made up called “Vital Haiku.” It involves pairing a photograph with a haiku, both created by you.
The picture and poem can be about whatever arises, or you could choose a particular question or topic on which to focus your “lens.”
I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while but have felt strangely shy about sharing it. Wondering - has it been done before? Is it dumb? Does it dishonor the tradition of haiku? Finally, I got past my inner critic, took a risk, and brought the invitation to a group of people who gathered at my house recently. This group is engaged in communal learning about how to navigate transitions in our lives gracefully. After reflecting, sharing, and engaging in some new learning togehter, everyone went off to try their hand at creating Vital Haikus as a way to synthesize the day. So you get an idea, here are a few:
Shipping container
Temporary Neutral Zone
No wheels, moving on
- Bruce
Single drop may fall
Powerful in its own splash
Others feel the ripple
- Colleen
Anticipation
Dog and human alike
Wait for change with hope
- Scott
I learned that for many people it’s been a veeerrrrry long time – perhaps since they were a child – since they have penned a poem. It was a delight to watch adults jump in, come alive, be attentive to the world outside as well as their interior landscape as they created their pairings. Emboldened by their enthusiasm, I now offer up the practice as an invitation for you to try on your own, with a friend, or with a community you’re a part of – including a community of colleagues.
The Practice
Create a photo paired with a haiku, perhaps one that helps you capture and express...X [Fill in the blank with a topic if you wish. Ours was ‘transition, endings, and grace.’] Approach the invitation with mindful awareness, and allow yourself to be playful and creative. Hold this invitation as a practice; it’s not a performance, you can’t mess it up, and you’ve got nothing to prove.
Suggested Process
Start by taking one or many photos. Consider:
- Close-up images, or a wider perspective?
- Color? Black and white? Filters? Anything goes.
Now choose a photo and write a haiku to go with it. To reground you, especially if it’s been many years, haiku generally include these four elements:
Three short lines of text that are grounded in nature, including human nature
Sensory experiences rather than thoughts
17 “sound units” in Japanese, but often you won’t need that many syllables in English. In the U.S., we often use a “5-7-5” syllabic pattern for the three lines, but don’t get hung up on number of syllables. Sound units in Japanese are much shorter than syllables in the English language, and the goal is economy of language. So ask yourself: Can I use fewer words?
An element of fresh perspective, surprise, or wonder
I think these words answer the question of “Why is this practice worthy?”
“The point is to find ways of reminding ourselves that we are humans living with other humans — and also living in a community of other beings and things.”
Stay together, friends
Don't scatter and sleep
Our friendship is made
of being awake
- Rumi
Want more?
If you want more on the mindfulness aspect, try this site: Haiku and Mindfulness
If you seek an approachable resource about writing haiku, visit Let's Do Haiku!
And finally, the Bare Bones School of Haiku is a good resource for going deep