Discover Your Deep Thoughts with a Haiku Hack

Posted on June 02nd, 2008 in Happiness, Simple Living

Journaling is a beautiful thing. Not only do you get a chance to express your opinions and feelings in a judgement-free zone, you’ll often learn things about yourself you never knew. It’s amazing how the act of writing can release your inner thoughts, even the ones you ignore and push aside. The problem? It takes time that lots of people don’t have. Fortunately, there’s a cool journaling shortcut that can cut right to the heart of your thoughts in just a few minutes: the haiku.

Haiku is a form of structured poetry that originated in Japan and has become widespread. The poems are incredibly short, with typical haiku consisting of just 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five. That’s it. The amount of words doesn’t matter, just the rhythm of the syllables. If you have time to write about 25 words, you have time for a meaningful journal entry.

Your Haiku Cheat Sheet

It can be hard to get started if you’re not comfortable with the format. However, the more you write, the easier it becomes. The structure of haiku allows a great deal of freedom. Because you’re not worried about creating a structure, length, or theme, your brain can focus solely on images and words. Haiku cuts through appearances and format, creating an undiluted pathway to your ideas.

Start by thinking of the most powerful emotion you’re currently feeling. That’s your beginning. What are you doing with that emotion? Are you fighting it, embracing it, loving it, hating it, contemplating it? Now you’re getting somewhere.

Now expand on that idea. What’s making you feel that way? Why was your day the way it was? Is there a concrete detail or adjective that stands out?

Next, think about what it all means in your day-to-day life. Are you going to attack a problem? Will you just wait it out? Are you content and happy? You can expand to the future, consider the overall context what you’re feeling or doing, or reach a decision.

Or, to be honest, you can throw all that out the window and write whatever feels right. Even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if the words aren’t perfect. Even if it’s no longer a haiku. It’s your truth, and that’s what the most effective journaling is all about. To give you an idea of what a haiku journal can look like, here are a few from my life. As you can see, they don’t have to be deep or powerful. They just need to be yours.

Same old day, no news

Busy meetings, nothing said

Sleep it off, start fresh

Inspired by life

Reaching for fresh ground

Fingers in the sky

Embarrasment reigns

But in love’s daring kisses

All is forgotten

Aquanet wisdom

Life’s questions asked and answered

In hair band glory

Haiku Journaling Secrets

Just because the form is serious, doesn’t mean your content has to be. You can create a haiku about burning dinner, your favorite TV show, or accidentally farting in front of your boss.
Just start. The thought of creating a “perfect” haiku can be discouraging. So create an imperfect haiku. Then either choose to make it perfect or let it go. After all, the goal isn’t to create award-winning poetry, it’s simply to express yourself.
Strive for essence. You’re trying to boil your day and your thoughts into a few brief words. Leave the minutia for somewhere else. A haiku journal entry is all about essence.

This post has 5 comments

Emily
June 2nd, 2008
This is so great!! I have taken up journaling recently and I like this format. Journaling simplified. I love it!
LivSimpl
June 2nd, 2008
Great ideas! I love keeping a journal but, like you said, it’s hard to find the time to write in it. Thanks for the suggestion - very original!
Marelisa
June 2nd, 2008
Have you heard of Proprioceptive Writing? Basically you slow your thoughts down to the speed that it takes you to write something down and then you “listen” to yourself as if you were detached from yourself and write down what you hear. Whenever you write something down that catches you attention, you ask yourself: “What do I mean by that?” and proceed to elaborate. I think journaling helps because it forces you to look inward, when most of us have to spend a lot of time focusing outward. I’d never heard of using haikus to journal before, it sounds interesting.
Sara
June 2nd, 2008
I hadn’t heard of proprioceptive writing. Sounds almost like a form of meditation in that you need to calm your thoughts–definitely worth a try!
Jesse Hines
June 6th, 2008
Haiku seems like a really cool way to sharpen your thinking, writing, and creativity skills.

You might even produce some nice little poetry.

Thanks for this post. I think I’m going to explore haiku a little more and try it out.