Cross Bridges

Sometimes a bridge 

consists of vines

that sway over 
rivers of alligators.

Most bridges
are mental.

Breathe.

Cross over.

Find your
metal and go.

Span a hungry

river with the mind.

Use a thick branch

to cross spans 
that require

a different balance.

Autumnal Haiku

A haiku is a short Japanese poem where nature links to human nature. It captures a moment and usually consists of 17 jion (Japanese symbol-sounds) arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern.

Rather than saying how a scene makes one feel, the poem reveals details that caused the feeling. 

In the simplicity of daily life, a falling leaf or opening petals, haiku shows us how to see into nature's life. Then we can gain a glimpse of enlightenment.

Like all Japanese arts that connect with the spirit of Zen, haiku invokes sabi, solitude, aloneness or detachment, and wabi, the spirit of austere and serene beauty.

A season always reveals the message.

On a leafless branch

A crow's settling

autumn nightfall

                 - Basho

Examples: http://www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/ehisinx.shtml

Thinking in the rhythm of Haiku provides exercise for the mind. If you combine this concept with a walk in a natural setting, you will have a Walk-u. Study the Haiku form before you go, take a few with you. You do not have to follow it exactly in your three lines. Keep your senses open.

Take a walk for 30 minutes. Stop occasionally and write three lines. Look up and around and write three lines. Notice connections. See how many series of three line observations you can write in the time limit. 

Celebrate autumn with haiku. 

Write the Nonexistent into Life

"By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it.  The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired." - Nikos Kazantzakis.

What does not yet exist that you could bring into life today?  

Do you need to stimulate a friendship?  

Would refreshing lines in a poem or story add to its possibility?  

What if you left an encouraging note for the mailman, an office worker, or someone who provides a service you take for granted? 

Think of just one area of life that needs enriching for someone else. Then add one for yourself.

Make your day one of believing and doing.  Become a magician of what could add energy to our weary world.

Write the nonexistent into life.