My Haiku Habit

Haikus are easy

But sometimes they don’t make sense

Refrigerator

--William Shatner

Like many people, during middle and high school I attempted to keep journals. Packing up my old bedroom at my parents' house a few years ago I found at least a handful of different journals. Each was filled with a few entries within a close timeframe, followed by a few more entries a few months/years later. Mostly each journal contained blank pages. I had good intentions each time I set out to keep a journal—I wanted to write, I wanted to make notes about my life. All I was missing was a bit of consistency and follow through.


A year ago I gave the idea of journaling another shot, prompted by my 25th birthday and an unexpected present from a colleague. The present was a journal accompanied with a note in the card encouraging me to keep track of my writings as I could write a book someday. My initial reaction was that it was a very thoughtful gift. What I didn't know, and likely what the person who gave it to me didn't know, was just how meaningful it would prove to be.


Given my previous track record of sticking with plans to regularly journal, I had low expectations for what would come of my journaling attempt this time around. At the end of my birthday, I opened the journal and made a quick note of my day before bed. Within that entry I wrote two haikus for the fun of it. The next day I returned to the journal and wrote another haiku with some other thoughts. After a week of writing before bed, I realized that no matter how tired I was, I could easily manage to take a few minutes to write at least a haiku. I also realized that one haiku could easily express the same level of emotion and thought as several lines of prose. I suddenly had a new goal—write at least one haiku in my journal each day.


Nearly a year and over 800 haikus later, my daily haiku writing is a habit. I found the consistency and meaning I lacked earlier in life. I have a haiku chronicle of my life as a 25 year old. And I think that is pretty awesome.


Reviewing my haikus and thinking about the last year, here are some things my haiku habit has taught me:


Perspective—it’s amazing how worries/annoyances/fears/sorrows turn into manageable blips on the radar when expressed in haikus (granted some difficult times resulted in many, many haikus). Writing the haikus is cathartic, leaving me with a sense of comfort and some degree of control in how I react to situations around me. A haiku cannot alleviate all problems, but, for me, it certainly is a start to figuring out my role and limitations within the world.


Gratitude—my 800+ haikus illustrate the importance of gratitude—gratitude toward people, communities, opportunities, the environment, television shows, good food, etc. Alongside haikus helping make sense of frustrations, I try to include haikus about the high points of my day. A healthy amount of haikus acknowledge the wonderful support system I have both near and far. I am very blessed in many regards at this point in my life and don’t want to take any of it for granted. Why not memorialize the seemingly little daily things that I’m grateful for in a haiku? Now I need to make sure I thoroughly express in person my gratitude to those I highlight in my haikus.


Balance—A common topic among student affairs colleagues is “work/life balance” and what that actually means/looks like. This past year taught me that balance doesn’t look like the definition of balance taught growing-up. Things will be lopsided, you’ll be pushed and pulled in different directions (by our own choosing and by external factors), balanced does not mean equal. In August many haikus were about RA training, my new staff, and being a returning Community Director. In September more haikus were about traveling, family, and my music community. While at a professional conference, there is always a significant spike in my haiku production. I’ve stopped worrying about work/life balance on a daily basis. It’s the overall picture that matters to me.



I’m very grateful for the endless lessons I’m finding within my haikus as well as the journal encouragement that initiated this unique habit. It’s a form of reflection and expression that works for me; I look forward to the lessons that will come from the next 365 days of my haiku habit.