Why I Write Daily Haiku Poetry

Hi there,

I’ve had two different daily haiku writing projects, and so I want to address why I’ve opted to do them. Writing daily haiku is an important practice for me for a few different reasons:

1. I believe in daily creativity.
   Creating something small every single day is a key to my happiness. Katie Dalebout recently wrote in an email that “[she’s] more pleasant to be around when [she’s] touched a creative project at least for a little bit earlier in the day.” Um, same!
   
   Being creative is something that just gives me warm fuzzies. It makes me feel productive, and I’ve noticed that feeling productive is another key to my happiness.
   
   Daily creativity is something you can do, too. Soon, I’ll host a challenge on my newsletter for creating every single day for a week, but until then, you can view my list of 50+ ways you can be creative in 15 minutes or less and get started on your own.

2. I believe in publishing these little creative projects even if they aren’t perfect.
   Perfectionism is a myth that I believe holds you back from doing your most important work. It leaves rough (or even finished) drafts in desk drawers (or Evernote docs) forever.
   
   When I publish a daily haiku, it’s to get out a simple little idea. My haiku, while I enjoy them and am glad people read them, are not meant to be my life or career defining work. I challenge myself with this project in two ways:

   1. To write a short poem every single day

   2. To publish that poem

Writing a quick haiku challenges my creativity by forcing me to come up with different ideas every day that can be used in a poem. The quick publishing of each haiku makes it so I can’t be a perfectionist and encourages creative bravery as it pushes me to publish my work before I believe it’s perfect.

The reality is that my work will never be perfect; it will only be as good as I could do. My daily haiku are not perfect. Sometimes I publish a haiku I don't like, which is important to me as a part of this project. I want to publish the good, the bad, and the ones somewhere in the middle. 

So far this year, I have published around 50 daily haiku on Medium. I've missed a few days, even. There was a short period of time where I was too engrossed in a different writing project--a fiction book--and it was taking all of my time and creative energy. And that’s okay.

I’m happier when I create, but I forgive myself when I miss a day or two.

If you’re interested in taking your own journey into daily creativity, I have a challenge coming up soon. Join my newsletter to stay up to date.