Jane Talbot

Adventure 248 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [15]

/ intrepidjane

rowan haikuOne of the biggest shifts I’m experiencing as a result of writing my collection of haiku poetry is in the nature of my attention. At the beginning of this adventure series, I was waiting for something from the outside, something from nature, to grab my attention ~ and then I’d write a haiku about that. But now it’s beginning to change, and I really noticed it today. Today, my attention was geared towards the outside world, like a highly sensitive radar. I’m not waiting to have my attention grabbed : I am actively attending to the natural world.

Today, it felt like my senses couldn’t get enough of what was going on around me. As I drove my son to school, I began noticing the differences in the trees : some are yielding to Autumn far more quickly than others. It’s even possible to notice the very gradual swallowing up of a tree by the new season, day by day.

On the way back from school, I stopped to admire a rowan tree (also known as mountain ash). These trees are in full berry now. As the other trees begin to fade, this tree is coming into its prime.

A little bit of treelore research revealed some fascinating facts about the rowan. The rowan (derived from the the Scottish Gaelic word rudha-an, meaning “the red one”) is considered to be a sacred tree and is associated with the Celtic goddess Brighid (patroness of the the arts, smithing, healing, weaving and spinning).

In Scotland and Ireland, spinning wheels and spindles are traditionally made out of rowan wood. Discovering this made me smile : here I am, writing a collection of poetry about the turn of the season,  and I’m being gifted the experience of a tree which is associated with spinning!

Whilst the rowan can grow anywhere, it is often found  in mountainous areas. For this reason is sometimes called “The Lady Of The Mountain.”

Bearing all this in mind, and acknowledging my direct experience with the local tree this morning, I’ve written a haiku that attempts to capture the full essence of this majestic tree.

You can read today’s haiku here , and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

 

Adventure 247 ~ Get A Poetry Anthology Ready For Self-Publishing [1]

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"Seventeen" by Jane TalbotIn yesterday’s video-blog, I shared with you how my collection of poetry is an attempt to capture the change of the season. Today, I’ve taken a few more steps towards actually publishing the collection!

I’ve come up with a name for the anthology which I really like : Seventeen. I called it this because a haiku has seventeen syllables in it (5-7-5). The image for the cover is a photograph I took for one of my haiku poems : it’s wheat “on the turn”. It captures the essence of the whole collection.

In terms of the structure of the book, I’ve decided to put each poem on a separate page with an accompanying photograph. For me, a haiku and a photograph are almost identical : each tries to capture the essence of something. So, a photograph is like a visual haiku 🙂 .

On the page facing the haiku, I’ll write a little bit about the story behind that particular haiku.

Because I’ve gained so much from creating this collection (and I’ve still got a few more to write before the collection is done) , I’m going to include a section on the therapeutic benefits of writing haiku poems. The haiku adventures are conditioning a profound sense of connection and presence in me; I feel like the world is slowing down.

I’m also going to include a section on how to write haiku poems. Whilst I’ll include some very basic structural guidelines, my purpose here is rather to show people how to get connected to the essence of the thing they’re trying to describe.

And after all that, I’m going to have a go at the adventure of self-publishing :). I’ll keep you posted.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

 

Adventure 246 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [14]

/ intrepidjane

poem about school uniformFor me, the things that really mark the changing of the season are the end of the summer holidays and the beginning of the school term. The first full day of school for my son was this monday and seeing him in his uniform again reminded me :

  • How quickly we, as humans, move through our own seasons
  • How tied I really am to my own heritage (I come from a family of school teachers)
  • How I can already see in my son’s Spring, the seeds of his Autumn (I think the leaves will be spectacular)

For today’s poetic adventure, I’ve written a haiku called “Back to school”. You can read it here , and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog too.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 245 ~ Create My Very First Newsletter

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Add a little adventure to your in-box

I had a lot of fun today creating (and sending out) my very first newsletter! I used Mailchimp for this , and I capitalised on last week’s “techy” adventure too : I used Canva to create the header image.

I wrote a short article and then added share buttons and links … okay, I added pretty much everything I could work out how to use!

You can take a peek here  ~ I think you’ll like the article (it’s a harvest metaphor 🙂 ).

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 244 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [13]

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firewoodI’ve had a total head-jammer of a day today, working on my website. I’ve started to really look forward to my daily adventures because they bring me back to the present moment, they close the door on work.

And my haiku adventures are right up there when it comes to creating presence. Within a few short minutes, I find myself immersed in the very essence of nature, checking out my emotional responses to the world around me, immersed in the very essence of myself.

I think I must have had Winter on my mind today : I went out to check the firewood supplies. When I looked at the pile of wood, it made me smile. I got to thinking about how things (including humans) can look old, and yet still be full of life.

You can read today’s haiku here. I read it out loud in today’s video-blog too.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

 

Adventure 243 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [12]

/ intrepidjane

Autumn leavesYou know what? I’m really enjoying my poetic adventures : I’m enjoying taking pictures, I’m enjoying learning about nature, and I’m enjoying the experience of super-slow presence.

Whilst I was taking my dog for his morning walk, I noticed how one of the trees (it’s a common lime) is racing towards autumn. Many of the tree’s leaves are already golden ; some of the leaves are already on the ground.

I wondered what it would be like to be a leaf on that tree. I wondered what the “younger” leaves might say to the “older” leaves as the inevitable fall approached.

Today’s haiku (which is an attempt to translate the autumn rustle of leaves into words) is called “Leaf,” and you can read it here. I read the poem out loud in today’s video-blog.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 242 ~ Buy A Domain Name For A New Project

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book cover Jane TalbotNow then 🙂 . If you’ve been following my adventures for a while, you might have seen today’s adventure coming!

I’ve had an idea for a book project (and an accompanying experiential programme ~ well, “experiential programme” isn’t exactly the right phrase, but it’ll have to do for now 😛 ) that seems to have taken root way back in my earlier adventures. My summer adventures have accelerated the growing process, and today’s adventure is a step further towards bringing this project to life.

The Invisible Counsellors adventures (adventures 89 – 92) helped me to explore how I might do something worthwhile with all my adventuring experiences. My writing adventures (a gruesome piece of romantic fiction, my children’s story “The Faerie Thorn”, and my haikus) have toned my writing muscle. My webinar adventures have encouraged me to really reflect on the value of living adventurously ~ and to reach out to others who might want to reconnect with their own adventurous spirit.

241 previous adventures have led me to this point : the purchase of a domain name for my book and for it’s associated learning programme (nope, that’s not the right word either : I’m sure it will come to me at some point!)

It felt really good to take this small step today. In fact, it felt like quite a big step ; it made the whole idea feel more concrete. I sense it’s going to be a big part of 2015 for me – and it just couldn’t have happened without 2014, my year of Everyday Adventures.

Sometimes, it’s so good to realise how everything we plant today makes for tomorrow’s harvest. It’s almost September : the harvest is right on time. (Oh yeah…  what I also wanted to say is that this is me “putting it out there”, setting the intention, making the commitment – and you can call me on that 🙂 ).

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 241 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [11]

/ intrepidjane

owlFor today’s poetic adventure, I had to do quite a bit of detective work. With the help of “Birdwatching For Beginners” and BBC Radio 4’s Tweet Of The Day archives, I was able to work out which bird I’ve been hearing at dusk throughout the summer : it’s the long-eared owl!

You can hear the call of the elusive long-eared owl here; you can read today’s haiku about this nocturnal bird here; and you can listen to me read my haiku out loud in today’s video- blog too 🙂 .

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 240 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [10]

/ intrepidjane

Whitepark Bay Northern IrelandToday’s poetic adventure was inspired by the sea! I live very close to the Atlantic Ocean and made today’s video-blog on the beach at Whitepark Bay (Northern Ireland).

The sea was actually very calm this afternoon, but I always think of the ocean as a powerful and brooding thing, and I think that energy comes out in today’s haiku.

You can read today’s haiku here , and I read it out loud in my video-blog too.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 239 ~ Tackle The Tech

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live your adventure by Jane TalbotOne HUGE thing that my adventuring has given to me is a playful attitude towards technology! Before I started my 365 Days Of Adventure project, I think I was actually afraid of technology ; I was in awe of all those folks who has “mastered the modern”, and I think that awe (and the  belief that technology is “hard”) really held me (and my business) back.

As I look back over the last 8 months, I’ve learned to edit videos, manage my WordPress site (and many of its widgets), set up a mailing list, link my mailing list to a “home-made” sign-up box on my website, set up and run webinars, use Facebook advertising (I was REALLY scared of that, oddly enough!), use Google Hangouts On Air, I’ve launched my first digital product, and I’ve mastered a range of image-making tools too!  And I’ve done this all by playing ~ it’s really worked for me, and I’m so glad I’ve done it because I really do think that it’s helped my business no end.

By working through my fears of technology, I’ve now arrived at a very new state of readiness. I’m ready to go self-hosted with my website, I’m ready for the world of plug-ins and customisation, I’m up for learning more about Search Engine Optimisation, and I’m up for developing on-line learning programmes. Yup ~ I’m up for it all because I realised something that’s really important to me : it’s not really about technology, it’s really about playful creativity, connection and  self-expression. And those are things  that light me right up!

For today’s techy adventure, I tried out Canva (a brilliant image creation website which is mostly free. Today’s blog post image was created for FREE on Canva today 🙂 ). The other websites I mention in today’s video are iPiccy and Pixlr . All three of these sites are incredibly easy to use.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT