At 5:30 every morning I get up to put drops in my dog Buddy’s eye. He had cataract surgery on December 7th and part of the aftercare is seven different drops at different times around the clock. Well, some of them coincide but you get the picture. He’s doing great, btw, finally able to see well enough to resume our daily walks which makes us both happy.
Anyway, at 5am he has three drops that are given five minutes apart so in the five minute waiting periods I look at my iPad. Seems a theme has emerged this morning: less. The poetry I’ve read is spare and streamlined, just the way I like it. Not a fan of flowery language, just give it to me straight as Anne Tannam does here.
Austin Kleon talks about paring down on journaling. He keeps a list, a logbook, of his day instead of writing in prose. I’ve actually done this in the past and felt a bit guilty that it wasn’t real journaling. But I’m wondering now if this writing style doesn’t fit perfectly with my minimalist tendencies. And maybe I shouldn’t feel guilty but follow his lead, embrace it. When I look at my journal for 2015 I see that it fizzled out toward mid-summer which I think is because the thought of writing, writing, writing was too much pressure. I’m giving myself permission to try the list approach this year and see how it goes.
Finally, I looked at examples of small, minimalist apartments in Paris in Apartment Therapy. The older I get the more I despise clutter and piles of stuff, the more I want less to take care of. I am not a fan of more is more. I’m hoping this year to amp up the decluttering of my house that got derailed last year and paint the entire inside white. Spanking clean white. It’s gonna happen.
Charlotte Hamrick 
Although I do love flowery language, I have to be a bit less enamored of words. I also am inspired to adopt a more minimalistic aesthetic. I want to do the same.
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Actually, I should amend that comment a bit. I do like descriptive language but I think an over-use of adjectives often obscure the writers intention. I love haiku and very short poetry. It takes skill to tell a story in just a few words.
I’m glad you’re inspired toward minimalism. There are some great (and not-so-great) minimalist bloggers I can share if you’re interested.
Thanks for stopping in and commenting, Heliopolister
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Please share!
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Yes! Less is more. Except when it’s not. 🙂
I believe that the majority of poems are list poems of some sort, so producing lists would be an appropriate way of journaling.
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That’s an interesting thought. When I write poetry often I do think in list terms. Good insight!
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Heliopolister,
My fave is Rowdy Kittens
http://www.rowdykittens.com/
I also read:
http://simplenotplain.wordpress.com/
http://zenhabits.net/
http://nosidebar.com/
I hope you find one or more to your liking!
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I wish I could be minimalistic but I live with a hoarder and I’m not too good myself. I also like sparse, economic writing. Something I struggle with on a daily basis. Interesting post and I hope Buddy gets better x
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Yeah, my husband is somewhat of a pack rat too which makes purging difficult. But even he agrees it’s time to pare down the stuff. Thank goodness!
Buddy’s doing better by the day so hopefully the cone will come off soon. He’s been wearing it for a month now, poor baby. Thanks!
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I’m with you here–I’m always trying to figure out how to say the most in the fewest possible words. Nothing against the maximalist approach, but paring down to the essentials suits me just fine.
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I’m glad we agree!
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