Nature Journaling and Haiku

I held a class on nature journaling and poetry (mostly haiku) this past Saturday. My intention was to get someone good to teach the class, someone in the nature journaling or poetry "business", but it ended up being me. The people that attended were nice about my lack of fame and talent and I think everyone had a good time.

Journaling serves several good purposes; it allows you to observe nature in a way that you might not normally. You never really SEE something until you are forced to write about it and draw it. It is also an excellent escape from everyday stress. It is hard to focus on the teeniest tiniest part of a plant or try and find just the right words for a haiku and think about money problems or family issues at the same time.

I was pleasantly surprised that several of the attendees of the class were young adults that had real talent. One young man in particular turned out to be quite a good haiku-er. I doubt that is a word, but whatever, he was really good at tossing out a haiku virtually on demand. Not that haiku is supposed to be demanding, but to some people it doesn't come very naturally. Something about the 5-7-5 format, or the simplicity of it that makes it hard? Everyone in the group got the hang of it on some level though. I had never written a haiku (that I remember anyways) before this past weekend. Turns out I can do it, not without counting syllables on my fingers, but still....

Conifer standing
Alone against the gray sky
Only hint of green


Stillness and quiet
Bird silhouette flying by
Cold doesn't halt life


Nature is a natural thing to "haiku" about. Try it. It's just 17 syllables. Everyone has a poet hidden somewhere inside.