For my creativity class we had to choose something to do everyday as a transformative project over the semester. It could be something as simple as turning lights off only with your feet to give you that different perspective, or it could be pushing yourself out of your comfort zone by dancing to a full song each day. I decided to write a haiku everyday to see how that transformed my creativity and thinking.
When I was a youngster, there was a point that I aspired to be a poet and/or an author and illustrator. I would write ridiculous fictional stories for my elementary school’s publishing center to bind up as “books.” I even wrote some poetry for the enriched writing program’s little anthology. Once I left 5th grade, I started feeling silly about writing that way. I had learned about my voice as a writer and I had started to hone that sassy, informative side (which has pushed me through writing, pitching and editing magazine content at Mizzou), but I would try to write poems or song leaders and just feel ridiculous. I feel like I have lost that wispy writing voice because of my fact-driven major. I kind of want it back .
I don’t want all of these haikus to feel like I am trying to hard or to feel like I am forcing myself to be deep. I just want to let go and allow myself to fill the syllable count for the stanzas with whatever works. Hell, it could be about pizza and I am sure one of them will be. But, the point is that I don’t want to feel bad for being silly or writing in that way. And at least the haiku form gives this planner-obsessed, Type-A gal a little bit of structure so I don’t feel like I am really drowning. I’ll keep track of them in these posts as I go on, so be on the lookout for some stanzas of something.
Veronica DeStefano 