The Everyday Adventurer’s Handbook

Adventure 231 ~ Embrace Failure

/ intrepidjane

J K Rowling quoteToday I received my first reply from a literary agent about my children’s story, The Faerie Thorn. It was a standard email – and it wasn’t a “yes”.

In today’s video, I explore my reaction to the email : it’s probably worth watching if  you think fear of failure may be holding you back (or if you’re worried about what others may think if you don’t succeed).

The “take-away” from today’s adventure is : “failure” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be 😛 (and if you’ve got things that you really want to do, go right ahead and do them!) .. oh … and whatever you do…  hold your nerve!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 230 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [7]

/ intrepidjane

Evening ash treeFor today’s poetic adventure, I experiment with extending my range : I’ve managed to create a riddle-haiku!

The haiku was inspired by one of the old ash trees on our farm. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil (The Tree Of Life) is an ash tree and is closely associated with one particular god in the Norse pantheon.

I wonder if you can work out which of  the Aesir I am describing? (All the clues are “hidden” in the haiku 😛 ).

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

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 229 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [6]

/ intrepidjane

Rushes blown over in the windHaving camped out last night, I feel very close to the essence of the wind (it roared at me for most of the night 😛 ). To me, it sounded like a winter warning, a song of things to come ~ perfect material for today’s poetic adventure.

You can read my haiku about wind here. I read it out loud (in very windy conditions!) on todays video too.

 

 

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 228 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [5]

/ intrepidjane

Thistle For today’s poetic adventure, I write a haiku about the thistle. Over the past couple of months, I’ve grown to love this intrepid weed : from humble beginnings, it carves out great empires for itself.

As the wheel of Nature turns, the bright purple flower-heads transform themselves into ethereal whisper-clouds of seed : I’ll miss the warrior army as it goes off to conquer new lands.

You can read today’s haiku here. On today’s video, I read the haiku out loud and show you the warrior army as it prepares to move camp!

 

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

 

Adventure 227 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [4]

/ intrepidjane

Dog Rose Berries AugustOut on my walk with my dog this morning, the jiggling dog rose bushes caught my eye. They’re not in flower yet here in Northern Ireland, but their berries look fit to burst!

When I stood still and observed the berries, I noticed that I had quite an unexpected (and powerful) emotional reaction to them. I hope that today’s haiku captures the energy of the emotion :).

In today’s video, I talk about how I experience the dog rose (sometimes known as the briar rose), and I read my poem out loud. You can read today’s haiku here.

 

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 226 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [3]

/ intrepidjane

August WheatWell, I’m beginning to realise why I like  haiku so much : writing a haiku can instantly pull you into the present moment (that’s really handy if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t find it easy to “leave work at work”); and writing a haiku is a quick and simple way of keeping the creative channel open (that’s really handy if you haven’t got the time you’d like for your novel or non-fiction work, but you’d still like to “keep your hand in”).

You can read today’s haiku here (it’s called “Wheat”), and I read it out loud in today’s video. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you might recognise one of my favourite themes emerging 😛 .

 

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 225 ~ Write A Collection Of Haiku Poems [2]

/ intrepidjane

blackberryYou know what? I like the haiku : I like the idea of a quest to capture an emotion, to paint a picture. I like the effect that haiku-writing has : it encourages exquisite presence.

I want to travel deeper into the experience of the world around me (and into the emotions inside me) ; I want to get closer to the turning wheel of Nature. I am open to discovering whether the haiku is the perfect vehicle for this mission – so , stand clear : I am getting into the haiku seat and taking the hand-brake off 🙂 !

My haiku adventure will take as long as it takes (that’s the first time in all my adventuring that I’ve ever heard myself say that, which is interesting in its own right)…. and that probably means a poetry collection (and that will be another first!). The form might even change along the way too 😛 .

You can read today’s haiku here (“Bramble”) and I also read it out in today’s video.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 224 ~ Write A Haiku

/ intrepidjane

Sycamore Seed PodsInspired by my recent brushes with Nature, today I try my hand at writing a haiku . I explain a bit about what I’ve learned about haiku in today’s video; I also read out my first haiku!

You can read my haiku here.

 

 

 

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

 

 

 

 

Adventure 223 ~ Forage For My Breakfast In The Hedgerow

/ intrepidjane

Well, when you’re out camping, you can get pretty hungry! So today, I decided to see if I could find anything in the hedgerow that I could add to my breakfast bowl 🙂 . (Nature’s larder seems to be quite full at the moment 😛 ).

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT