#HaikuChallenge21 -- Sisyphus

January 7, 2021 Pamela Ressler

fate of sisyphus

pushing eternal boulders

is it our fate now?

#HaikuChallenge21 -- Hope

January 6, 2021 Pamela Ressler

holding on to hope

that we are better than this

shaken to my core

New Year Lost and Found

January 6, 2021 Pamela Ressler

i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
when i was sixteen and
twentysix and thirtysix
even thirtysix but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me
~Lucille Clifford

As you run into a new year, what are you carrying? We never enter a new year with the slate wiped clean. Our expectations, aspirations, judgements, promises and resolutions come with us. It becomes harder and harder to carry our ever-expanding load without letting go of that which is no longer helpful or useful to us. The new year presents an opportunity to assess our personal lost and found box. My tendency is to go in search of a larger box, holding tightly to everything, instead of discerning what can be gratefully and gracefully released at this point in my life. Mindfulness can help us notice what we can discard, rediscover what we may have lost through the years, and find unexpected treasures. I invite you to join me in loosening the grip on what we carry this year and discovering what is actually in our lost and found box.

Wishing you a safe, healthy, and mindful new year

#HaikuChallenge21 -- Reminder

January 5, 2021 Pamela Ressler

textures and colors

bright green moss in wintertime

reminder of spring

#HaikuChallenge21 -- Pour-Over

January 4, 2021 Pamela Ressler

first world challenges

a broken coffeemaker

pour-over patience

#HaikuChallenge21 -- Hieroglyphics

January 3, 2021 Pamela Ressler

language of insects

artistic hieroglyphics

waiting to be read

#HaikuChallenge21 -- First Step

January 2, 2021 Pamela Ressler

beginning again

stones worn by others’ journeys

taking the first step

#HaikuChallenge21 -- New Year, New Challenge

January 1, 2021 Pamela Ressler

January heralds a new beginning, a new year, filled with both reflections and expectations. For the past several years, I have challenged myself and others to start the year with a daily mindfulness practice — in the form of creating a haiku informed by something you have noticed or experienced during the day. I post my haiku to this blog, as well as to Twitter (@pamressler), Facebook (facebook.com/stressresources) and Instagram (@stressresources) using the hashtag #HaikuChallenge21 Haiku are micro-poems, said in one breath and steeped in observation. You may choose to follow the anglicized format of 5-7-5 (three lines, first line 5 syllables, second line 7 syllables, third line 5 syllables) or be more free form with your haiku.

During the ongoing pandemic, I challenged myself to dig a bit deeper in observation and have been creating a daily haiku ever since March 17. My daily haiku are simple, and are paired with a snapshot of something I noticed that day. If a whole month of daily haiku seems to ambitious why not try a day or two? As our worlds have shrunk, they can also expand as we notice and observe more deeply. Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy, and mindful new year…filled with observations and beauty.