100 HAIKUS
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In the spring of 2018, I participated in The 100 Day Project with my hashtag #ARZ100haikus. It was my way to dip my toe back into poetry and attach words to some of my thoughts and feelings at the time.
I liked that haiku poetry already had a specific set of rules to follow, and I liked that it gave me something creative to quickly think about, put together, + share on a daily basis. (Listen to the podcast episode about it.)
It only took me a couple of years to share this final product, but that makes sense. This was one of those projects that begged to be worked on - super intuitive in nature - and once it had done its job of getting out what needed to be said, didn’t call for an “In conclusion…” type of wrap up. In fact, rejected it.
This project was ALLLLLL about the means, not the end.
SOME THINGS ABOUT IT TO NOTE:
(1) It followed right after this mini book I made for 30 Days of Lists, which made me realize my 100 Haikus had to be a digital project. Printing anything out wasn’t an option if I was going to finish all 100 days of it.
(2) Haiku 59 got the most likes.
(3) The 100 days of this project worked me through the inevitable break-up with John (haikus 23, 79, 95, show that - and finally 100 - which broke my heart because it was not only meant for the end of the project, but also for the end of that relationship).
(4) Another big theme throughout the 100 days was my processing life as a freelance designer, trying to get a product idea made by day, while waitressing by night - struggling through whether or not that was the kind of lifestyle I wanted to continue to lead (haikus 49, 50, 63, 72)
(5) Some haikus were past hurts I felt from past coworkers of a certain company I worked for in the past (33, 37, 38, 43). Happy to report: I’ve stayed classy …and enough time has passed. We’re all over it. Dueces!
(6) Haiku 19 is one of my favorites because it was written smack in the middle of a really hard time in my life, but drenched in hope that relief was coming and all the struggle of that season would one day be the past. A lot of wisdom was present in some of these that surprised me and didn’t feel like my own.
…AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO NOTE:
(7) None of my haikus work as well on their own (like you see below) as they do when paired with the caption I posted for each of them. #ARZ100haikus were meant to be a combination of design + poetry + commentary. I didn’t know that at the start, but by the end, realized that killer combo was this project’s greatest strength.
That being said, make sure you click through to the IG post if one of the haiku’s below resonates with you.
Finally, the engagement and feedback I received in the comments during this project was pure magic for me. If I never thanked you before, I’m thanking you now: thanks for appreciating my art. // Stay safe. Be well. xoxo
