Thrilled and honored to have been given the opportunity to speak about haiku and Parkinson’s Disease in an interview for Parkinson’s Life, the magazine of Parkinson’s Europe. See here
Delighted to see that my article “Parkinson’s Toolbox: The Case for Haiku” is now included in the online resources of Parkinson’s Europe, the umbrella organization for PD societies.
The project titled “Parkinson’s and Creativity” aims “to create an online library of scientific papers, relevant articles, and videos with the aim of sharing knowledge of the latest scientific discoveries and mysteries of Parkinson’s creativity.” Check it out here
The update on our project Haiku and the Brain appeared on The Haiku Foundation website! It informs the haiku poetry community of our journey to date, briefly in a blog post here
The eighth issue of Juxtapositions: Research and Scholarship in Haiku is out. JuxtaEIGHT is a themed issue on “haiku and wellness,” with several articles, interviews, and resources addressing this theme. And it includes two contributions by yours truly: the article “Parkinson’s Toolbox: The Case for Haiku” is now available to download (pp 37-61), as well as a description of Haikupedia from the Resources section of Juxtapositions: Check them out here https://thehaikufoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/juxtaeight.pdf
I copy below the Abstract of the Parkinson’s article:
Parkinson’s Disease (PD)—the fastest growing neurodegenerative condition worldwide—affects a wide range of motor and nonmotor functions. At present, there is no cure. Only symptomatic treatment is available, aiming to improve quality of life and slow progression. The aim of this paper is to recommend haiku as a therapeutic tool helping with symptoms and, potentially, rate of progression. To this end, following a brief description of PD, and its symptoms grouped under two areas of loss resulting in life diminishment, I touch upon the general role of art and literature in augmenting pharmacological treatment of the disease, before focusing on some of the qualities of haiku (in the process of writing as well as the created poem) that collectively make haiku a containing vessel that can hold and transform the distress associated with the disease into a more bearable experience.
I am thrilled to be teaching thecourse Introduction to Haiku (and related forms) for the second time at Parkinsons.Art.
Parkinson’s Art is a non-profit organisation run by artists and writers living with Parkinson’s disease.
Its mission is to:
Promote the benefits of art to those affected by Parkinson’s Disease
Provide a platform to collaborate and share artwork
Showcase Parkinson’s art and raise awareness through exhibitions and events
Trevor Woollard, who set up Parkinsons.Art, noted that a lot of the major charities in the sector focus – rightly so – on exercise. But there are huge numbers of people who are less mobile or not sport-orientated or don’t have that kind of ability. And they’re often forgotten.
“Exercise is important – but so is exercising the mind and soul.“
The course, starting 12 February 2022 and running for 8 weeks, is free. All are welcome to apply (see Homepage). But hurry! Places are limited!
Happy to see my course on haiku for Parkinson’s Art aiming at people living with #Parkinson‘s, their families, and friends, being included in HAIKU BRIDGES, the new feature of The Haiku Foundation!
HAIKU BRIDGES is a new periodic feature from The Haiku Foundation designed to encourage and communicate significant haiku outreach initiatives to new audiences.
Scott Mason, running the feature, invites suggestions of such initiatives for possible inclusion in a future post.
I copy the post below:
Regular readers and writers of haiku recognize that their haiku practice confers personal benefits beyond the literary—it offers the therapeutic values that come with mindful awareness plus a felt connection with their surroundings. The nonprofit organization Parkinson’s Art, through its Parkinson’s Art Academy, will be offering those with Parkinson’s Disease and their families, friends and care partners a free eight-session course on haiku and haiku-related forms starting on September 18th. The online course was designed and will be conducted by Stella Pierides, a Member at Large of The Haiku Foundation board.
The mission of Parkinson’s Art is “to inspire and develop creativity across the Parkinson’s community.” Through its Academy the organization currently offers courses ranging from the visual arts (“Drawing & Painting Portraits”) to the literary arts (“Poetry Without Fear”).
Jan Sargeant, Director of Literature in the Arts at Parkinson’s Arts, states: “We are delighted to provide our audience with the opportunity to experience the power and beauty of this deceptively complex form of poetry. And we’re just thrilled to have someone as accomplished and committed as Stella to teach it.”
Trevor Woollard, who set up the organisation noted that a lot of the major charities in the sector focus – rightly so – on exercise. But there are huge numbers of people who are less mobile or not sport-orientated or don’t have that kind of ability. And they’re often forgotten.
Exercise is important – but so is exercising the mind and soul.
I am looking forward to the course. Haiku, the shortest of poems, packs quite a punch!
April 11, 2021 is World Parkinson’s Day. Check out live events and Parkinson’s Community videos in honor of the day on YouTube here
Interested in finding out about Parkinson’s Disease? The Michael J. Fox Foundation describes it as follows:
Parkinson’s disease (PD) occurs when brain cells that make dopamine, a chemical that coordinates movement, stop working or die. Because PD can cause tremor, slowness, stiffness, and walking and balance problems, it is called a “movement disorder.” But constipation, depression, memory problems and other non-movement symptoms also can be part of Parkinson’s. PD is a lifelong and progressive disease, which means that symptoms slowly worsen over time.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation has a wealth of information for those wishing to understand the disease, as well as the newly diagnosed.
Another good place to start is the Davis Phinney Foundation which offers a plethora of useful information. The site also features performance poetry by Wayne Gilbert who, using metaphor, describes his experience of living with this disease.
Did you know that a number of people with Parkinson’s find it helpful to personify the disease, to see it as an enemy to fight against? From Journeys with Parkinson’s, the personal blog of Frank C. Church, in the first three out of Ten Things to Keep You Living and Not Just Existing With Parkinson’s, the disease is presented as an opponent of the person with PD:
What makes you happy? Think about it; think deeply about what do you do every day that makes you happy. Your Parkinson’s will not like you being happy.
Stay busy; be active every day for many hours during the day. Do not just sit. Your Parkinson’s would prefer to have you sedentary doing as little as possible.
Make sure you get plenty of sleep and the best quality kind of sleep. You know you used to get it before you had Parkinson’s. Your Parkinson’s would prefer to do whatever it can to keep you from sleeping because you being tired and listless gives an advantage to Parkinson’s.
Finally, here is a video of a Belgian septuagenarian with Parkinson’s who took up boxing to alleviate her symptoms:
This badass grandma is fighting Parkinson’s one punch, jab, and hook at a time 🥊 pic.twitter.com/AViHCRG97t
Haikupedia opened its doors on 21 June 2020. Now in its seventh week, it has released articles on haiku in several countries, biographies, awards and contests, and other articles for study, for research, and enjoyment. All you ever wanted to know about haiku is being written by experts and gathered in one place: Haikupedia. Every week new material! It is growing and it is getting better. And it is always open, always there. You can visit anytime you like: https://www.haikupedia.org
Grateful to be included in ‘Echoes 2,’ the yearbook of the New Resonance Community and its 170 poets, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the New Resonance series!
Today I came across a beautiful meditation on death and dying: Debiprasad Mukherjee & Gabriel Rosenstock’s lyrical and soulful collaboration: Last Stop Before Salvation
This is how their work is presented by the Culturium:
In this week’s guest post for The Culturium, Debiprasadoffers us a window on the private world of those in the final days of their life ensconced in a hospice on the banks of the Ganges river. Coupled with Gabriel’s beautiful haiku, their collaborative offering is a moving and deeply profound meditation on the soul’s journey from this life to the next.
Debiprasad Mukherjee, Last Stop Before Salvation – The Culturium
Having read Dorothee Lang’s blog post on the #The100DayProject, I am tempted to take part. I will have to choose a theme and create something daily, for 100 days on it, posting the result on Instagram.
A couple of problems: I didn’t want to join yet another social media channel, and have only a few days to find a theme to focus on for the project starting on the 3 of April. And how could I possibly find the time? For these reasons, and many more, I decided to . . . give it a go.
I am settling on 100 days of finding new, to me, things. Of opening up to new ideas, other ways of thinking, other people; expanding my horizons! And I’ve just signed up on #Instagram. I will be using my iPad to post. Daily hashtags: #The100DayProject #100daysnewthings #poetsofinstagram
Each day, I’ll be searching for, finding and posting something new to me. It may not be new to you, but to me, it may be an epiphany. ‘It’ may be an interesting quotation, a piece of information, a discovery or re-discovery, a haiku or other poem or text I discover in me, a photo of something I hadn’t noticed before…you get the gist.
Thank you Dorothee for the inspiration and encouragement!
Literature, Art, Culture, Society, and lots of Haiku
A couple of problems: I didn’t want to join yet another social media channel, and have only a few days to find a theme to focus on for the project starting on the 3 of April. And how could I possibly find the time? For these reasons, and many more, I decided to . . . give it a go.
Stella Pierides 