Stuck in the Present
The following is an excerpt from the Introduction of my haiku collection, Haiku Ponderings. For the entire month of April, my ebook is discounted for a promotion price of $0.99 (USD) to celebrate National Poetry Month. Click here to choose your favorite retailer and download your copy today.
Haiku Ponderings: IntroductionDuring the year of 2020, writing haiku each day helped me stay grounded in a world that seemed to be falling apart. It gave me a moment to be present and think about what I value, what is important to me, and how to give back to others. It is amazing what can be revealed to you in seventeen syllables. As much as I wanted the world to calm down and go back to the calmness that came before, haiku gave me an anchor to hold onto and ride out the waves.
In the universe we inhabit, the laws of physics forbid me from changing my temporal position—other than permanently forward—in the space-time continuum (as much as it would be interesting to do so). It leaves me trapped here in the present moment, yet I do not always exist here. Often, I find myself thinking about the future and what is to come. It is one of the many reasons I love reading and writing future-based science fiction. Yet, I have often caught myself dwelling and reliving events of the past too—both joyful and melancholy moments. But the truth is, I—like all other creatures on this planet—am a being of the present moment. Trapped in the here and now by the laws of the universe. Slowly moving forward toward the unknowable future.
However, being trapped in the present is not such a terrible thing. Through writing haiku, I have learned what counts most of all is the present moment. The moment of here and now. Since we are forever trapped here—and we never get a redo—we must appreciate the current moment and give more attention to it. That is, we must make the most of it.
In writing the haiku for this book, I have attempted to capture the energy of these priceless moments that are experienced only once, but get to be relived again and again in memoriam. I hope they inspire you to appreciate each and every moment you experience and to be more present with everything that exists around you.
Enclosed within the book, you will find over one hundred haiku and five mini essays—or ponderings—focused on the topics of Mindfulness, Compassion, Gratitude, Love & Loss, and Give & Forgive. At the end of each chapter I have left questions for you to ponder. There is no obligation for you to answer them, unless you want to. Their purpose is to offer you a moment of self-reflection as you think about your own life and how to live it with more mindfulness, compassion, and gratitude. In that spirit, here is the first haiku:
Book Promo for National Poetry MonthStuck in the present
Forever moving forward
We live in the now
Haiku Ponderings
The featured haiku in this post is from my haiku collection, Haiku Ponderings. This collection features over 100 haiku centered around the themes of Mindfulness, Compassion, Gratitude, Love & Loss, and Give & Forgive.
In celebration of (U.S.) National Poetry Month, my collection is discounted for a promotion price of $0.99 from Fri April 1, 2022 to Sat April 30, 2022 on the following retailers. Follow the link below to download your copy today!
AmazonApple BooksBarnes & NobleKoboScribdThaliaBol.deIndigoAngus & RobertsonMondadoriVivlioBooks2ReadReflection QuestionHow do you think about time? Are you an object of time’s whims? Or do you move and flow throughout time? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.
