Can Writing Haiku Build Your Cognitive Reserve?
The science says yes.
In the spring of 2020, we had been living in the Cayman Islands for years. My husband, Sean, had been transferred to the island by his employer, and we were so delighted to be provided this opportunity to live in a fun, tropical paradise with our three children.
And then…the pandemic.
The lock-downs were swift and strict on the island. Indeed, after the tourists were all safely off the island, we and all of the other locals were restricted to our homes for what turned out to be 91 days.
91 days.
Twice a week, on a day that corresponded to the first letter of our last name, we could don our masks and queue up for a one-way path through our nearby grocery store.
One hour a day, we could take a walk past the boundaries of our yard and into the neighborhood in family groups.
That was it.
For 91 days.
I don’t need to relive all of the history of that season; I think we all remember it too well.
I do find it fascinating, however, how fondly I now look back on those three months.
Because of the lock-down, and our complete isolation surrounded on all sides by the ocean, the entire island was Covid-free, and for that alone I will be forever grateful to the crazy luck that enabled our family to be living there at just the right moment in history.
Years have passed now, so I’ve had a chance to reflect on our 91 days in our house-arrest and the months that followed without a way off the island while the airports were closed.
We were stuck there. I am graciously aware with deep gratitude that Grand Cayman was the probably the best possible place to be “trapped” and we were safe; nevertheless, we were confined.
We were quite anxious about it, and we all felt survivor guilt as we watched the news from our safe haven.
The older kids were home for a week-long spring break that turned into an unexpected five-month stay, and without commercial airlines operating, they had no way in sight to return to the mainland for school.
And yet, as a result of this situation, my family and I experienced first-hand how to successfully tackle--not just the uncertainty of it all--but also our anxiety.
I realize now in hindsight that we did it without knowing exactly what we were doing at the time.
We collectively put down our phones, hung out together, and became more playful, less inhibited, more…creative.
Even while we were all restricted to the quarantine zone formed by the physical walls of our house and the virtual geo-fence set in place by the government’s quarantine app, we left the confines of our boxes through our creativity and imagination.
I listened to 171 episodes of a horror podcast with my daughter, finally took the time to write a few essays, and adopted a mean little budgie who loved hanging out in his cage with his blue head pushed up inside of his silver metal bell.
Sean and I sat around gently swaying for hours in our backyard hammock watching the iguanas slink by and the grass grow. We listened for the native green parrots’ distinctive call and discovered they fly around in pairs and in flocks called pandemoniums.
The children invented new Pokemon evolutions, knitted sweaters for the cats, made slow-motion videos of firecrackers exploding inside of left-over gingerbread houses, and perfected their macaron recipe.
For our anniversary, since all of the restaurants were closed, they crafted one for us on the back porch complete with signs (“Please wait to be seated”), handwritten menus, a waiting room, and full-service staff, acting out all of their roles with dedicated professionalism.
Our children, without even realizing it, were replacing their pandemic anxiety with their creativity…
…and we had the best anniversary ever.
Our daughter, the efficient hostess, escorted us from our make-shift home offices into the living room turned lounge before showing us to our table for two out on the porch which had been beautiful set and decorated with fresh flowers and seashells.
Draping a napkin over his forearm, our youngest topped up our wine glasses with precision and presented us with a bread basket with butter before retreating to his second shift in the kitchen.
And the oldest whipped up a gourmet meal inside while channeling his best Gordon Ramsay toward his sous-chef siblings. We watched them through the windows and laughed as they scurried around smoking up the kitchen and plating chocolate dessert.
The sun set behind us, and the frog songs revved up for the night.
No fine-dining before or since has ever been better.
Creating new and unusual experiences, like transforming your porch into a proper restaurant, can strengthen your cognitive reserves.
Eventually, the older two made their way back to their schools 3,000 miles away, and I cried harder than when they first left home.
We settled in for months more of travel restrictions, including a 14-day solitary isolation rule upon return to the island once we were finally able to fly again, and even that just for approved circumstances.
It was during one of those quarantines that I was alone for the first time in my life.
I thought about why that was so.
I had lived with my family until I left for university where I had roommates and was surrounded by thousands of other students.
Once I started working, I lived alone, but I saw coworkers and friends every day. Even after I was married, during our eight six-month deployments apart, I still saw other humans, friends, and family.
And then the children came along, and I honestly did have companions 24/7.
It was true: I had never been alone before in my entire life…and certainly not for two weeks.
I made some decisions for my “sabbatical”: I would order in my meals from a vegetarian place to see if I could sustain plant-based eating and juicing for the two weeks. I would catch up with as many friends as I could, and I would write every day.
And thus, my daily Quarantine Haiku was born. I called it my “Q-Haiku.”
Turns out, that act of creativity likely helped me to stay sane. Harvard-trained sociologist, Dr. Martha Beck, explains it very well in her new bestseller, Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life’s Purpose.
Basically, Beck writes, when we flip on our creativity, our anxiety flips off.
Additionally, writing and other creative activities in general, contribute positively to boosting our brain health, one of our five essential actions that builds on the mission of The Pounce Pot.
But how?
Numerous studies help to explain. For example, this study published in 2024 by Drs. Van der Weel and Van der Meer in Frontiers in Psychology highlights a direct link between handwriting (writing using your penmanship not a keyboard) and brain connectivity.
They compared handwriting to typing (keyboarding) and found, through electroencephalography (EEG) measurements, that writing by hand, not surprisingly, involves more intricate and coordinated brain activity.
Handwriting activates areas in the brain involved in motor control, sensory feedback, and cognitive processes like memory and language.
Cognitive stimulation and novelty also help our brains. Take composing the haiku, for example. You have to think creatively, select precise words, and keep to a strict 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
As the National Institute on Aging frequently reports, the stimulation and challenge of a new task (such as writing haiku) can strengthen your neural pathways. Your brain thrives on new activities. Become an expert with haiku now. When it gets too easy, shift to sonnets, song lyrics, or limericks.
This extra brain activity contributes to increases in your cognitive reserve. Simply put, this means that we can build up extra connections in the brain so that when we age, our brain can use different pathways if needed.
It’s like building those dirt backroads now just in case you need them in the future to detour past road blocks on your main highways. Cognitive reserve can help to explain why autopsies can show brains riddled with signs of Alzheimer’s disease even while the person showed no signs of dementia.
They were, it appears, making their way around on the short cuts they had constructed years before.
In other words, boosting our brain while we can, in as many different ways as we can, through creative pursuits such as writing haiku, can help delay the onset of dementia and potentially avoid it completely.
We will absolutely visit this idea again; it’s an extremely important part of our path to not just longevity, but to vibrant longevity. We want a longer lifespan, sure, but we’re really aiming for a longer healthspan…and for a longer healthspan, you need a healthy brain.
I’m willing to be weirdly creative to help achieve that goal.
I hope you’ll join me.
Q Haiku
Day 0
Day zero: The sun
Blocked by dark wood window shades
Hides to let me sleep.
Day 1
Alone and quiet.
Easier with the daylight.
Hard to face at night.
Day 2
The sun peaks inside
As if to say: Get moving!
Quickly, close the shades.
Day 3
How can it be true
That I already don’t know
The day of the week?
Day 4
What happened today?
Pajamas til noon and then
Sunset and a nap.
Day 5
“Laura, your move ring
Did not make progress Thursday.”
Eff off, Apple Watch.
Day 6
Day six and I ask:
Is it Saturday or what?
I truly don’t know.
Day 7
Spied through the hammock:
Brown lizard on coconut
Staring back at me.
Day 8
Eighth day of veggies.
I need a cheeseburger soon
Or a dozen wings.
Day 9
Two hours staring
At a tall coconut tree.
Better than my phone.
Day 10
Vice grip on my head.
Third day and won’t go away.
I just need ice cream.
Day 11
To be all "alone"
I sure am doing a lot
of talking with friends.
Day 12
So busy and yet
I’ve got no one to stop me
From doing nothing.
Day 13
I have to confess:
Fourteen days of solitude
Has been really nice.
Day 14
My last night alone.
Reading a novel with tea;
Kitty on the bed.
For a deep dive into the Five Essential Actions to achieve vibrant longevity and active pro-aging, read here.
The Five Essential Actions are:
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