New Year
everything
in high resolution
______________
(This was originally posted on The Haiku Foundation Facebook page in response to a request for haiku about the New Year.)
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, because I have found that doing so is a sure way to make myself feel bad about myself. I have to, you know, really feel the change in order to make it, and I usually am not feeling very change-y this time of year. Too cold. I make resolutions more at other times of the year, when I’m more in the mood.
This year, I did kind of made a resolution, but I have been working up to it for a long time so it’s not as if I just pulled this out of a top hat in time for New Year’s. I resolved to meditate every day. Just a little bit. Five minutes is OK, though if I feel like going longer I can.
I have, in fact, had a meditation practice a couple of times before, at times when I wasn’t sure I would actually survive my life if I didn’t. For a while I meditated for half an hour every day. Then I got lazy and stopped. But the evidence that meditation is really, really good for you, even if you aren’t currently in the throes of a nervous breakdown, is getting too voluminous to ignore. It’s especially good, they say, if you are as attention-challenged as I am. So I’m going to give it another try.
You can play along at home if you want. (Maybe you already are.) Let me know how it works out for you.
Red Dragonfly 
First off, congratulations on your votes for your free format haiku in the Shiki December kukai! Great news to ring in the new year! I believe I voted for it.
I like your ku here, Melissa! It’s true how on the first day of each year, resolutions run high. The ku does also hint at ‘high resolution’ printing and I see banners of resolutions in high resolution flying!
To meditate–that’s a great resolution, one I’ve been trying myself.
Happy New Year!
Thanks, Alegria, and congratulations to you on your recent win in the Red Dragonfly present lottery. 😉
yeah. this is more a response to what you said in the writing than the ku. . . yeah, 1 – if it’s something i want to do that’s important, i think i should do it, and not wait till new year’s to do it. waiting till new year’s (as i mentioned in another comment) isnt going to make the goal any better or easier to do. and 2 – yeah, meditation. i have some routines that i know are helpful to me. i slip out of them at times. meditation is one of them. exactly what you said tho, i know way too well how good and beneficial meditating is for me. so now… why is it that knowing this, i slip out of the pattern? human beings. sheesh. more stick-to-’em on you and me and all the rest of us all and yes, meditate on – in what ever meditation practice we are in – do it. and if we stop, do it again. and again and again. because that is what practice is about, practicing. practicing the way we want to become. okay. rant off. laughter on. bwahahahahaha.
snowfall
today the new year
is pristine
January
practicing
being new
I like the haiku and especially the nuances of high resolution. There is a clarity about New Year’s Day. Good luck with the mediation, I am not good at it or making time for it.
at last New Year’s day
oatmeal morning
Sully
Thanks, Sully. LOVE that ku. My husband just went off to the grocery store with strict instructions to buy nothing but fruits and vegetables because we have all gained about ten pounds in the last two weeks … ah, January.
nothing changes
once again I resolve
to change
January first
the steam from my tea
resolving
start of the New Year
a list of improvements
here somewhere
first of January
resolving to resolve
next year
Happy New Year!
I did exactly the same, years ago, for many months. I meditated a half hour every day, a rigorous, deliberate, concentrated meditation.
It was hard but relaxing and I enjoyed it and felt the benefit. Then, when I started working nights I couldn’t stay awake during meditation no matter how hard I tried! So it’s been years.
I guess I’m on days now. Hm. I could get back into it. Maybe something less rigorous. Yeah. maybe
Anyhow, that sounds like an excellent non-resolution resolution.
Let me know if you do it and how it works out. I haven’t done my meditation yet for today. Hmmmm. Hey, I’ve still got five hours to go.