Lynn Flewelling's Blog, page 12
August 9, 2012
Baby, It's Hot Outside
It's currently 106F here in Redlands. And I don't care if it's a dry heat, it's freaking hot!
August 8, 2012
August 7, 2012
Mars!
At last, proof of life on Mars!
August 6, 2012
There's a What in the Where??
The Dream Tending seminar at Pacifica Graduate Institute was just amazing and I had tremendous fun with new friends and old there. However, when I got home last night, I walked through the door and immediately wrinkled my nose. Something smelled really, really bad. Rotting garbage bad.
Doug had no idea what I was talking about; things seemed fine to him. We took the trash out and checked the garbage disposal, but everything there was fine. We went out to grab some take out, after which I fell into bed, exhausted.
As soon as I came out of the bedroom this morning the smell hit again, worse than ever.
"Seriously, you don't smell that?" I asked Doug.
"Smell what?" he replied, annoyed with my now-continuous sniffing.
Determined, I checked around the garage, the kitchen, the living room. It seemed strongest there. In fact, it was strongest around the fire place, so I looked thorugh the screen and, I'm chagrinned to admit, let out a most undignified shriek. A dead baby possum lay on the hearth just inside the screen.
What happened after that I'm not quite sure, since I hid in the bedroom, but the possum is gone and the house smells normal again. A superior sense of smell is a mixed blessing.
Doug had no idea what I was talking about; things seemed fine to him. We took the trash out and checked the garbage disposal, but everything there was fine. We went out to grab some take out, after which I fell into bed, exhausted.
As soon as I came out of the bedroom this morning the smell hit again, worse than ever.
"Seriously, you don't smell that?" I asked Doug.
"Smell what?" he replied, annoyed with my now-continuous sniffing.
Determined, I checked around the garage, the kitchen, the living room. It seemed strongest there. In fact, it was strongest around the fire place, so I looked thorugh the screen and, I'm chagrinned to admit, let out a most undignified shriek. A dead baby possum lay on the hearth just inside the screen.
What happened after that I'm not quite sure, since I hid in the bedroom, but the possum is gone and the house smells normal again. A superior sense of smell is a mixed blessing.
August 2, 2012
Pacifica
I'm here in the dorm at Pacifica Grad. Inst. tonight, for a weekend seminar on Jungian Dream Tending. I don't start classes until September, so this is a nice warm up. The campus is beautiful, nestled in the mountains overlooking the sea. This part of campus was originally a monastery and the peaceful quiet seems to have carried over to its new incarnation. This is my fourth time here, and it never ceases to amaze. Here's the view behind the dorm.
There are fountains and statues scattered around the gardens and in the woods. There's a Kuan Yin statue in the circle garden, and a fountain with an otter on it nearby!
It's dark now, and the crickets and frogs are loud outside my window. I'm trying to get some writing done, but I haven't settled into the energy yet.
You know what? I've never lived in a dorm before coming here. I went straight from home to an apartment. Another new learning experience. Being near the bathroom is great, but I"m also right by the stairs. On the second floor and the showers are in the basement! Never too old to adjust.
There are fountains and statues scattered around the gardens and in the woods. There's a Kuan Yin statue in the circle garden, and a fountain with an otter on it nearby!
It's dark now, and the crickets and frogs are loud outside my window. I'm trying to get some writing done, but I haven't settled into the energy yet.
You know what? I've never lived in a dorm before coming here. I went straight from home to an apartment. Another new learning experience. Being near the bathroom is great, but I"m also right by the stairs. On the second floor and the showers are in the basement! Never too old to adjust.
August 1, 2012
Today's Buddhist Thought
The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering ofothers, to put ourselves "inside the skin" of the other.
We "go inside" their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering.
Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering.
We must become one with the subject of our observation.
When we are in contact with another's suffering,a feeling of compassion is born in us.
Compassion means, literally, "to suffer with."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
We "go inside" their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering.
Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering.
We must become one with the subject of our observation.
When we are in contact with another's suffering,a feeling of compassion is born in us.
Compassion means, literally, "to suffer with."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
July 31, 2012
Guest Blogging Again
Today I'm blogging over at Mary Robinette Kowal's site on my favorite bits in Casket of Souls!
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/my-favorite-bit-lynn-flewelling-talks-about-casket-of-souls/
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/my-favorite-bit-lynn-flewelling-talks-about-casket-of-souls/
July 30, 2012
An Announcement
I've been sitting on this for quite some time, but everything has finally come together and all systems are go.
I'm going to grad school. I've been accepted into the Counseling Psychology MA program at Pacifica Graduate Institute (http://pacifica.edu), with the intention of becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and —don't panic— one who continues to write. I have no intention of giving up being an author, though I may have to take a bit of a sabbatical. I have to finish the upcoming Nightrunner book by January (gad!). After that I hope to pick away at some short stories for Glimpses II, time willing. I'm also marinating the Next Big Project, which will have to be in the tinkering/noodling stage for some time. My agent, bless her, is very supportive of my choice, as we both think it will inform and deepen my writing.
I'm very excited about the graduate program. I've been up to Pacifica a number of times for different events and workshops—in fact I'm going to one on Jungian dream tending this weekend. The focus of the MA program is on depth psychology (lots of Jung), in addition to other methodologies. Joseph Campbell was involved in the founding of the school and left his papers to the library, if that tells you anything. :-) Depth psychology uses dreams, creative work, myth and mythopoetics (which means I'll finally learn what that is), and lots of techniques that mirror Buddhist practice, though only incidentally. It's a low residency program; I'll go up for three days a month, and a week in the summer term. It's a very intense program and I hope I'm up to the task.
In case you're wondering, this is something I've been thinking of doing for a very long time, for a number of reasons. I think it ties in well with the type of writing I do (Pacifica certainly thinks so), it allows me to dig deeper into what makes people tick, and I have a strong drive to help others. This is the way that feels right to do it. Right Livelihood, as we Buddhists say. Not that writing isn't also Right Livelihood, but I have a yearning for more.
I wonder if I'm the only writer in history who wants to go to a day job, rather than to escape from one?
I'm going to grad school. I've been accepted into the Counseling Psychology MA program at Pacifica Graduate Institute (http://pacifica.edu), with the intention of becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and —don't panic— one who continues to write. I have no intention of giving up being an author, though I may have to take a bit of a sabbatical. I have to finish the upcoming Nightrunner book by January (gad!). After that I hope to pick away at some short stories for Glimpses II, time willing. I'm also marinating the Next Big Project, which will have to be in the tinkering/noodling stage for some time. My agent, bless her, is very supportive of my choice, as we both think it will inform and deepen my writing.
I'm very excited about the graduate program. I've been up to Pacifica a number of times for different events and workshops—in fact I'm going to one on Jungian dream tending this weekend. The focus of the MA program is on depth psychology (lots of Jung), in addition to other methodologies. Joseph Campbell was involved in the founding of the school and left his papers to the library, if that tells you anything. :-) Depth psychology uses dreams, creative work, myth and mythopoetics (which means I'll finally learn what that is), and lots of techniques that mirror Buddhist practice, though only incidentally. It's a low residency program; I'll go up for three days a month, and a week in the summer term. It's a very intense program and I hope I'm up to the task.
In case you're wondering, this is something I've been thinking of doing for a very long time, for a number of reasons. I think it ties in well with the type of writing I do (Pacifica certainly thinks so), it allows me to dig deeper into what makes people tick, and I have a strong drive to help others. This is the way that feels right to do it. Right Livelihood, as we Buddhists say. Not that writing isn't also Right Livelihood, but I have a yearning for more.
I wonder if I'm the only writer in history who wants to go to a day job, rather than to escape from one?
Today's Best Typo
... stumbling over stones and rabid holes . . .
