After the refreshing impact of my ginko walk yesterday, I’ve decided to take a short break from writing. It didn’t take me long to discover today’s adventure – it was actually waiting for me when I woke up!
When I checked my emails this morning, I could see a note from my from my friend, Caroline. The note contained one thing : a link to details about BBC Radio 4’s Listener Week . During Listener Week, there is an opportunity for listeners to share their own stories. I smiled when I read that 🙂 .
So for today’s adventure, I wrote an email to BBC Radio 4’s Womans Hour expressing an interest in sharing my 365 Days Of Adventure story. It felt really exciting to press the “Send” button. Although the automatic email reply that I received made it quite clear that the chances of my story getting shared may be minimal, the most important thing for me is that I sent the email to them in the first place. This is me getting on the pitch 🙂 . Who knows what might happen? ….
Well, listen. I know I said I wouldn’t be back until the 20th, but I’m breaking “radio silence” now because the blog post on the 20th would be so long that I decided it might be better to give you an interim report before then.
I know I also said that I would edit all my video-blogs into one film, but if I did that, it would be a full feature-length film! So I’ve decided to post each vlog separately (with the exception of the 5th and 6th day which is edited into one film) in this post 🙂 .
So, here’s how it’s been going ….. (there are 5 videos in total 🙂 )
On Day 1, I learn how to create drop capitals in Word
On Day 2, I learn how to format a book for self-publishing
On Day 3, I get clear about the purpose of my book (and suffer a bout of “writers’ block”)
On Day 4, I learn all about the history of haiku poetry
On Day 5, I seem to be back in my flow … only to realise on Day 6 that I need to get some perspective (and so I take a ginko walk)
I know. I know. I know. What took me so long? Well, I have to admit that I’m pretty old-school when it comes to books : I love the smell of a real paper book, and I love the feel of turning the pages. I love opening and closing books : when they are opened, it feels like the contents come to life right in front of me ; when they are closed, it feels like I pressed the “pause” button and nothing can happen without me.
For me, a book is a living thing. When I read a book, I write over it. I talk to it. I listen to it. I have a relationship with it.
So, I never really got the appeal of Kindles – and I don’t own one. It turns out, however, that my laptop does have a Kindle app (I “tripped” over it a few months ago) but I never intended to use it. Until today!
Yesterday a book arrived in the post. It is brilliant. Totally brilliant. Unexpectedly brilliant. No-one recommended this book to me – it was another one of those stumbling things. I was looking for something to help me navigate the wilds of self-publishing, and I came across a book called The Easy Step-By-Step Guide For Self-Publishing Your Book In Print Using Create Space . When I dipped into the Create Space website to create an account, I made the terrible mistake of clicking on a few links. Those were deadly clicks leading me to all sorts of fora where people were getting het up about things I didn’t even know existed!
I have to admit that the whole process looked a little daunting, so I decided to reduce my fears by attempting to understand more about it. The book that arrived yesterday is spot on for what I need. It’s written in jargon-free language, the writer anticipates and answers questions ~ and he’s very reassuring. The book was so good that I decided to buy the Amazon Kindle Publishing Bookwritten by the same author, Jon Roetman.
And that’s where the Kindle adventure comes in : the book is only available in Kindle format. So, I did it! I bought a Kindle book 🙂 . It felt like magic when the book suddenly arrived on my laptop, but when I opened it I found it difficult to read. The words were where what I expected (and again, I’m super-pleased with my purchase) but my head doesn’t seem to like the format. I wonder if my brain will adapt to the Kindle format? (I’m definitely going to read it, so I’ll let you know how that plays out).
So, anyway – that’s me. I’m all set to complete my writing project. For the next week or so, I’m going to go to a writing retreat (in my own office 😛 ). I got so much out of my summer “Big Distraction Project“, that I’m taking a break from social media AND blogging in order to immerse myself in the author experience. I’ll still be recording daily video-blogs but I won’t post them until I come out of retreat. All the vlogs will be edited into one film and I’ll include that film in my next blog post which will be at the end of my retreat.
For today’s adventure, I’m nudging my haiku book project a little further towards completion. The brilliant news is that, in addition to my peer reviewers, I now have 4 people who have volunteered to try out the processes I describe in the book, Seventeen Syllables : Cultivating Presence Through Poetry (that’s the current working title).
Not only will these 4 people be able to give me feedback about the book and the processes, but I’ll also be able to measure the impact of working through the processes by taking a “before and after” measure. And that’s what today’s adventure has been all about : devising a questionnaire that will give me useful information about their motivations for joining the programme, that will give me clarity regarding their expectations about the programme, and that will let me know their starting point.
This feels very exciting. I know that the process had a profound, and positive, impact on me. Doing this upfront research with people who are genuinely attracted to the idea has the potential not only to provide me with a useful evidence base (and an important understanding of the range of impacts that might be experienced) but also with information that will help me to market my book in the right way.
In short, I’m setting about learning about my potential readership and how to communicate with them!
Okay. I admit it. I can’t actually help myself when an opportunity to haiku arises (I may just have made that verb up, but I like it 🙂 ). I was going to call my haiku collection complete at 30 (I was saving number 30 for the first frost) but today was too good an opportunity to miss, too rich an experience not to explore.
At 11.55 am BST today, the lunar eclipse was going to be at totality – there would be a second chance this year to see a blood moon. I watched the first total lunar eclipse in April, live-streamed from the Griffith Observatory in the US. It was a fantastic experience : I felt connected to the people at the observatory who were witnessing the celestial spectacle, and I felt connected to our small corner of the universe too. People were really enjoying their connection to the moon, shouting “Dragon be gone!” as they urged the orange-red dragon breath to disappear and give the moon back to Earth.
So, today the impulse to watch the live-stream of the second total lunar eclipse of the year took me by surprise. It wasn’t going to be a brand new experience, and I knew how total lunar eclipses worked, so I wondered if the experience might feel “less than” my first experience.
I tuned into the livestream from the Griffith Observatory about 20 minutes before totality. This time there were no crowds, just a few commentators. It wasn’t being celebrated in the same way, and yet I did experience the witnessing of this event as a much deeper, primitive, somatic celebration. I didn’t feel connected to the people in the same way, and yet I did feel connected to the human story in a very profound way. And this experience not only took me by surprise, it took my breath away.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth stands between the Moon and the Sun. The Earth covers the Sun – but not completely. If you were to look at the Earth during a total lunar eclipse, you would see a halo of fire around its entire circumference. The halo you would observe is every sunset and sunrise happening on Earth simultaneously!
As the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, the light from the Sun is “bent” around the Earth and causes a bloody, ferrous glow . The Moon becomes blood-red because it reflects this ferrous glow. The Moon is reflecting back to the observer all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth – all at once!
Now, when you stop for a moment and really consider what you’re witnessing … well, you could see how that might take your breath away, right? And when you stop and really consider the symbolism of simultaneous beginnings and endings, of births and deaths, of eternal and inevitable cycles … and when you stop and really consider that you are observing this happening on a planet-size scale … and that you are seeing everything all at once… you begin to realise that a total lunar eclipse eclipse is, in fact, a haiku in its own right. The Sun and the Moon work together to write a haiku of cosmological proportions across the night sky . During the totality of an eclipse, you get to witness the essence of existence … in its totality… all at once. To be more precise, you don’t just witness it, you feel it in your body in such a way that it causes you to reflect too… just like the Moon.
Today reminded me that every moment is new. Every experience (even repeated) offers something new. And for the first time, I understood (I mean I REALLY got) the value of the haiku. For me, beneath the words of today’s haiku sits “everything”… all at once… in one breath. And that bone-deep understanding doesn’t just take your breath away, it makes you cry.
Here’s the thing : I’ve only got 85 days of adventuring left. Time’s flying and there’s still stuff I want to get done, stuff I want to complete. I’ve realised that I like completing things, and I’m beginning to realise exactly how much I’ve actually completed this year!
Whilst I’ve really enjoyed the smaller one-off adventures, the adventures that have taught me the most have been those that have become larger projects : my composing adventure (The Call, a choral piece for 3 voices), my writing adventure (The Faerie Thorn) and my poetic adventure (my haiku collection).
So now I’m shifting my focus a little, Why? Because I want to finish these projects. Because I want to share the outcomes of my adventurous undertakings. Because I want to break new personal ground. This means that over the next couple of weeks, whilst I will respond to the daily adventure impulse if the call is strong enough, I’m going to pay attention to the deeper impulse, the core impulse, the primitive, insistent impulse that has been emerging throughout my 365 Days Of Adventure project.
Actually, as I write these words, I’m not sure if I know exactly what I mean by “core impulse”, but I can feel a deeper, wordless call. I recognise it. It’s been calling more insistently for the last couple of weeks, and it’s getting stronger by the day. I am listening. I am calling back. I am beginning to hear the resonant echo.
For today’s adventure, I took another step towards completing my writing adventure : I spoke with my friend Damian Hamill (the guy in the picture) who is originally from Northern Ireland (the setting for The Faerie Thorn) and who does voice-over work. I’ve sent him the manuscript and he’s going to turn my manuscript into an audiobook. Damian also talked me through all the options I have in terms of making my audiobook available for purchase and I’ve researched those options (and made a decision!).
I like the idea of collaborating, and I’m looking forward to hearing Damian’s interpretation of the characters in my story.
If you’ve been following my adventures, you’ll probably know that I’m getting ready to embark on a self-publishing adventure. My haiku poetry collection is nearly complete, and I’m just about to pull the whole project together to make it ready for publishing.
It’s more than just a poetry collection. The book is also a process of personal discovery and personal development. It’s geared towards helping the reader reap the rewards of the haiku-writing process for themselves.
Through my haiku adventures I’ve become more present to the outside world (particularly to nature) and more present to myself (and my own nature). I have felt the world slow down, I have felt more alive. I have gained a clarity about what life really means to me by engaging with the world through the haiku form. I am more productive. I am less hassled. I feel more creative : I’m generating new solutions to old problems. Problems seem smaller. I have a different perspective. I am remembering who I really am. I am remembering my place in the world.
I’ve put the month of October to one side so that I can spend the time putting the finishing touches to my book . As my book moves towards completion, it will be peer-reviewed by people from the mindfulness community, by people from the therapeutic/coaching community, by other writers and poets, and by people with a strong connection to nature (who work with nature to facilitate healing).
And this is where you come in! (Yes, you 🙂 ). For today’s adventure, I’m reaching out to you. I’m looking for 2 people to read my book and to work through the processes I have included in my book. You’ll get to learn about the structure and purpose of haiku poems; you’ll get to learn how to connect with the world around you (and with yourself); you’ll get to learn how to explore the essences of the natural world (and the essence of you); you’ll get to learn how to develop exquisite levels of presence; you’ll get to write poetry; and you’ll get to reflect on your experiences.
If you’re feeling a little disconnected from the world and yourself right now, this opportunity could be for you! If you’re feeling a little burned out and world-weary, this could be for you! If you’ve forgotten the beauty of the everyday, this could be for you! If you’re stuck in the past or you’re busy worrying about the future, this could be for you! Oh – and if you’ve always wanted to write poetry (but you didn’t think you could), this is definitely for you!
If you’re interested in trying my process out (and reading my book), please contact me by email in the first instance and we’ll take it from there. It’s completely FREE – all I ask is that you give me your honest feedback 🙂 .
Today I thought I’d have a bit of fun learning how to insert an opinion poll into my blog! So, I’ve created 4 images that are in the running for being the cover for the audio download of my original Irish faerie story, The Faerie Thorn. All you have to do is to tell me which of the images works best for you (or if none of them works for you, that’s okay too!). If you have any additional comments or thoughts that may help me to craft an image that is attractive to you, just drop me a note in the comments box!
Click on each of the images to enlarge them 🙂 and then check the appropriate “button” in the poll box below.
Today, I returned to Portglenone Forest with my dog. The floor was damp with mulching leaves; the fallen acorns had been ravaged by local predators; and the beech nuts had been squelched open by heavy-footed walkers. I had the sense that Time had picked up its pace, like a runner in a race that had caught sight of the finishing line : the Winter threshold is almost visible,
There’s a part of me that’s quite sad that my haiku adventures are coming to an end. I planned to write 30 for my self-publishing adventure, and today is haiku 29. The process of writing haikus has brought me closer to the outside world and brought me closer to my inner world. I feel more present, more aware and more connected. I’m noticing much more and I’m appreciating much more. And I’ve slowed right down.
The writing process has helped me to explore, and realise, my creative potential, and it’s encouraged a sense of growing confidence in some capabilities that I’d forgotten I possessed! Haikus have woken me up. That’s the best way of putting, I think. Haikus rouse you from the sleep of remembering and bring you into the aliveness of presence. I didn’t realise that 17 syllables could have such power!
I’ve chosen to write a haiku about the acorn today – its associations with potential and growth seem fitting for this part of my haiku journey. You can read my poem here, and I read it out loud on today’s video blog too.
Today’s been a really grey and wet day here in Northern Ireland. When I took the dog out for his walk this morning, I looked up the sky, but it didn’t look far away at all : it was like it was nose-close. It was like it was threatening me! And it wasn’t just “one rain” : rain, it seems, is a powerful collective, capable of synchronous action. It’s more of a “they” than an “it”.
It didn’t take long for the rain(s) to start. It wasn’t heavy but it was persistent enough to feel oppressive, to feel like it was playing with me, to feel like it was letting me know that it was in charge. That they were in charge.
It’s the kind of weather that would give you a headache, you know? The strangest thing of all though is that when you’re inside , the sound of falling rain is actually quite comforting!
What I’m learning through writing these haiku poems is that it’s the more familiar things (like rain) which I’m finding difficult to capture or “edge closer” too. To touch the nerve of the thing I’m describing, I’m having to cut through swathes of preconceptions and memories. I want to make sure that I’m describing the rain I experienced today, rather than old memories of rain, if that makes sense?
So today’s haiku is called Rain and you can read it here. You can also listen to me read it out loud on today’s video blog.
After the refreshing impact of my ginko walk yesterday, I’ve decided to take a short break from writing. It didn’t take me long to discover today’s adventure – it was actually waiting for me when I woke up!
Humans Resourced 