Bored, Confused, Aimless? Build Constraints

5-7-5. Those are the rules. The writing has three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the last line has five.

the sun pours herself

into the sea and the world

overflows with light

I’m not sure if the poem by Peter Glen Massey is excellent or not. Who am I to judge?  But, it’s mostly interesting to me because it’s not just any poem, it’s a haiku. Haiku is amazing because of its limits (5-7-5). 

The idea of sitting down to write poetry, which notoriously has virtually no rules. Does it need to rhyme? If you want! Does it have to be short? I can be, unless you want it to be an epic novel. Capitalization? Punctuation? Grammar? Literally, go crazy. 

It’s so open ended that it’s paralyzing. 

Haiku, however, is a different story. Its constraints are the magic. And, there is a lesson here for us. 

Every sport invented is made interesting by the constraints. The lines on the field, the timer on the wall, the boundaries of the goal all make the sport “playable.” So, if you’re feeling aimless in your life, build a constraint and go out there and meet people, or you can use a site that offer free sex near me as well.

Need to clean your house? Don’t. Set a timer for 11-minutes and see how much you can do. Have to entertain six kids in the back seat of your car? You can only speak if the first and last word of your sentence rhyme. Now we’re cookin’!

Constraints help us thrive in the vast openness of life that is often times not helpful and overwhelming. Give it a try!