January 31

Self becomes prideful

What is important to me?

Kindness never fails

Bali 2012

January 30

Gratefulness today

Better than tomorrow's fears

Brings peace to the soul

Ice plants, California 2010

 

January 29

Pause for a moment

At any time of the day

Appreciate life

Alberta 2013

January 28

Patience is required

Harshness can make it hard not

To respond in kind

Alberta 2007

January 27

When I speak of me

Are the words that I use kind?

Do they shape my thoughts?

Alberta 2015

January 26

Each breath like a breeze

Soothes like life-giving water

Like fresh air brings hope

Cliffs of Moher 2006

January 25

I know what love is

I give it away freely

I learned self-care too

Atlanta 2008

January 24

Some days are down days

But I need not stay down there

For I have a choice

Alberta 2011

January 23

Remember the good

All ways we care for ourselves

And nurture others

Japan 2013

January 22

Loving seems to be

Only for others, not me

Must include myself

Alberta 2013

January 21

Happiness abounds

When I do good for others

And to myself, too

Japan 2013

January 20

Difficult it is

To let one know they hurt you

It leaves hollowness

Cicada exoskeleton, Pennsylvania 2012

January 19

Taking care of me

Is the best thing I can do

To care for others

Alberta 2015

January 18

Blossoming flowers

Are loved just the way they are

As I must see me

Singapore 2013

January 17

Need to make a plan

Stop waiting for the day, stop

Procrastinating

Indonesia 2010

January 16

I am not just here

To be stepped on or abused

I love but need love

Indonesia 2010

January 15

Without perfection

Beauty can still be achieved

It's a better dream

Alberta 2013

January 14

Time spent is precious

You need not unwillingly

Give where it's wasted

Bangkok 2012

January 13

Inner strength in me

No more can I overlook

I grow wings to soar

California 2010

January 12

Inward focus helps

But others also need help

Balance is the key

Alberta 2015

January 11

With a weak stem a

Rose can still bloom brightly

So what if it fell?

Alberta 2008

January 10

Refreshing, crisp breeze

Deep breath, eyes shut, smiling wide,

Taking it all in

Alberta 2005

January 9

A daily struggle

Thinking well of yourself

Habit must be formed 

Jasper 2015

January 8

I recognise that

I have something to contribute

Even on down days

Atlanta 2008

January 7

Something that I love

I saw in myself today

And the feeling stayed

Edmonton 2015

January 6

Take care of myself

I need not seek perfection

By grace I can thrive

Tank, Pakistan 2010

January 5

Lift the eyes upward

See the sky, close them again

And know you're alive

Photo: August 2013

January 4

Inside inner glow

Seeking peace unsurpassing

A warmth to be stoked

Colorado 2009

January 3

Were I my daughter

Would I accept myself more?

That love would shine through

Japan 2013

January 2

I am valuable

More than I have acknowledged

I must remember

Jaipur 2010

Welcome to my poetry and January 1 poem

I have written poetry for a long time as a method of therapy to deal with my episodes of depression that I have experienced since I was in my late teens. I had a counselling session with a psychologist once that recommended it. In recent years, I have not spent that much time thinking about or writing poetry, but recently, as my mental health issues have resurfaced in greater force, such as I have not experienced in several years, within the last few months due to some major changes in my life, I decided there I needed to renew my practice of poetry. The Bible speaks about "the renewing of your mind" in Romans 12:2, and as I feel keeping mine fit has been a big challenge in the recent past, I decided I needed to engage in renewing my mind and seeking the wholeness I have been longing for. I am thankful to not suffer from a condition serious enough to require medication (qualified counsellors confirm); when I have extremely high stress, I tend to experience depression based on the circumstances at the time and poetry is one of the coping mechanisms that helped me in the past.

I have long debated whether I should publish anything related to mental health. It's a topic dear to me, and feel that it's necessary to keep the conversation flowing about these topics in my own little way of trying to reduce the stigma. What if I can't find a job? But I've never missed a day of work in the past for emotional reasons and barely even took a sick day when physically ill. Hopefully that would speak for me, but there are still a lot of people that do not understand what it is like and so I hope I can somehow help the conversations about mental health going.

Please be aware that sharing poetry in a public forum is scary because it is often an expression of my innermost thoughts, often fleeting moments in which the thoughts perish the moment at which I write them down. That is why I need to write them, that I might help the healing process for my mind. Among the things I'm doing to promote this renewal, I came across a book called Compassion Haiku, and I decided that I would write my own haikus based on the daily haiku and readings from the book. I hope that this will be the beginning of the process of making the words flow again, words I need to write, words I need to translate from my depths to the external world. To make myself accountable and make sure I do this, I decided to create this blog so that if anyone decides to follow me, they would know when I did not update my posts and keep up as I planned to do.

I am behind on publishing this blog only because I was away for the holidays and so I started writing poems on the new year before I even decided I would blog about it. I'll catch myself up to today's date (Jan 4) and then hopefully will be vigilant about posting one a day. I cannot guarantee they will all be good, but I hope they will help some others as they help me. I have decided to add photos I have taken so the page doesn't look so lonely.

January 1

Much of life has passed

In jealousy abounding

Time to make life new

Pennsylvania 2014