Haibunga for the Seasons: A Visual Memoir

My day begins with the bur oak outside the patio door of my second-floor studio. From here I easily connect by heart to the many elder bur oaks that are scattered about my neighborhood. I might meditate, ramble or sketch in my journal, sort images for a collage, or write a haiku. A routine of varied contemplative arts has been my practice for most of my adult years and now into this time of my own eldering. The idea of a memoir, with its medicine of reflection and healing, came alive for me through a desire to integrate the many fruits of these varied contemplative arts practices in a visual way. At the same time I was experiencing heightened concern over the future of life on Earth. I created a series of 12 pages, one for each month, in the form of haibunga, a visual and poetic form that combines haiku, prose, and image in an integrated expression of a theme. Altogether the completed series serves as an invitation for others to join me in finding joy, inspiration, solace, and learning in the places we live, even in these times. Especially in these times!