Recap of Parz's Livestream, 26 Jan 2025 (Haiku as Observation practice, The Joy of Doing Nothing)

 To dive straight into the Livestream, click the link below:

The Planner section of the video centred on using haiku as an exercise in observation (it being part of my creative process: observation, scribing, editing).

I first showed off my writing for 80 Degrees magazine (issue #13). (If there's an interest in learning more about this issue, click this link: https://www.readeighty.com/issue-13).

And then we used this image to explore ideas to write haiku:

Some ideas I came up with:

• A description of the overall image (this is usually the first haiku I write - it allows me to then focus on different details)
• the vivid colours of the grasshopper and the leaf
• the textures of the leaf and the woven fabric underneath
• the upright antanae
• is the insect real or is it a robot?
• the rippled edges of the leaf
• the blurred green background - why's it blurred
• is the grasshopper a pet? does it have a name?
• the leaf - food? furniture? a decorative piece?

And then I expanded on a few of these ideas:

I watch in wonder

at an insect's wonderment

we're all curious

wall hanging

or free-standing sculpture

upcycling

plant skeleton

grasshopper CPR

futile endeavour

Frank seems surprised

upraised insectoid eyebrows

or simply drawn on

In the Pantser section, we explored the joy of doing nothing. 

Remember that before the creative process where you observe, scribe, and edit, you first need to be present to do those things. If you aren't there, then maybe it's time to rest and allow yourself to be yourself. (Which harkens to the quote by Georgia O'Keefe - "I have done nothing all summer but wait for myself to be myself again.")