Alluring Morning

Have you ever awoken upside side and composing poetry?

My second waking thought was that today would be an interesting day.

What’s in store for today:

• Some context (blah, blah, blah)

• A Haiku

• A bad comic

• Some Takeaways, as always.

The Context

For context, I live on the coast of the Japan Sea and have a decent view from my bedroom window, not like “Instagrammable nice,” but nice. However, that did not stop me from creating an Instagram account. After all, if there is one thing the Interwebs has taught me, anything is Instagrammable if you have no shame.

Image from my bedroom window in the summer.

As I built my bed and have a poor sense of scale, my mattress is the same height as the windowsill, so I can look right out this window while lying in bed. Seeing the stars, moon, and fishing boats on the horizon is lovely as I drift off to sleep. Last night, there were no stars, just clouds and wind.

The first thought I had upon waking was a haiku, and not a very good one. I awoke upside down, which was not normal for me, as my head was hanging off the side of the bed. (Did I lose a land war to the cat at some point while sleeping?) So, I awoke to the sounds of solid gusts shaking the windowpanes in my house and an upside-down view of a lovely sky.

A Haiku from West Nowhere, Japan

Pane rattling gusts
Winsome clouds in a blue sky
Alluring morning

The view. Turn your phone or computer upside down to see how I did upon waking up this morning.

While I am no artist, sketching is something I am playing with and hope to improve. I have heard that learning new skills is to dementia as garlic is to vampires, so I may as well try. It can’t hurt.

The Bad Comic

After finishing my sketch and haiku, I thought I might share them here. One passing thought was whether I needed to define ‘haiku.’ This led to my poorly drawn comic…

Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it. My wife didn’t.

While you think you may recognize me (left) from Pacman, you would be mistaken. I drew myself that way as I have a full beard and a recently shaven head. So there.

The Takeaway

• Anything is your new skill if you are brave enough. Find something new to learn and have at it.

• So many opportunities are lost because we feel embarrassed. “I wish I had tried theater, but I was too shy,” “I wish I had asked her out, but what if she rejected me?” Should I be embarrassed of my drawing and haiku skills? Maybe. Am I? Maybe, but I am pushing through it.

• Is there a new skill you want to learn? Share in the comments if you are willing.