Words… As you probably know, I started another blog on January 1 of this year – a year-long challenge of myself to write haiku and other related poetry and publish on the blog every day of 2012. Not sure, at all, why I endeavored into this commitment, but I did, and I am having so much fun learning to write minimally, to have “haiku mind”, and to connect with others all over the world.
“Haiku mind” is my segue to what I want to talk about here. To quote Patricia Donegan in her book, Haiku Mind, “Haiku, the Japanese form of poetry written in just three lines, can be miraculous in its power to articulate the profundity of the simplest moment.” Words are powerful, and more words do not necessarily create more power, we know that in theory, and we know that from traditions such as Haiku. I don’t know about you, but even though I know that in my head, my words run away from me sometimes. I was in discussion with someone recently, commenting on how many more followers I have on my haiku blog compared to what I have on this blog, and she quickly commented, “That is because people don’t want to take the time to read something so long, you lose them.” Ok, so, already I have written too much probably, right?
So I will end for now, there is much to be said…but this is what I know about words:
- They speak for themselves
- They are powerful
- They are more powerful in fewer numbers
- When I use too many, I am not confident in what I am saying, and am either trying to convince myself and/or you
Related articles
- Spaces: Haiku It Up (cogdogblog.com)
- Haikus in Your Writing (soulishexhortations.wordpress.com)