PROGRESS REPORT # 38 : BACK TO NOTES AND EDITING

REFLECTIONS ON THE LAGOON

I've been enjoying some quiet leisure time in between all the business. But this week I'm back to notes and editing again, during the early daytime anyway, though I hate to miss any of this glorious, hot, summer weather.

I took my own advice, though, and have taken a few days where I go to the park or beach and spend time meditation. My favorite thing to do is head for Stanley Park, walk through the park gardens and along the Lost Lagoon trail to the beach. I usually take my camera along and have been collecting some beautiful photographs of the park's flora and fauna which I will post from time to time, here and on my other two blogs.

MY FAVORITE SWIMMING PLACE

Here's Second beach where I usually go swimming. The pool is large so it never gets too crowded, especially as I usually go later in the afternoon and stay til early evening. Then I walk along the seawall back to the buses on busy Denman St. Always lots going on down around English Bay.

I find that being in the water or by the water helps me quieten my mind and focus on the things I want to think about such as my writing. And if I am concerned about something (such as I've been the past week) it helps me sort out my thoughts, priorities and calm down. What bothered me last week was the news that the Mighty G. , Lord of the Web, has removed the ads from my blogs and website -- just when I was making a little to cover the cost of paying writers and web master. They didn't say why. Just "suspicious activity". I can only guess. It's like being charged with a crime you have no idea what you committed. I kind of think it might be that too many clicks were showing up from well-meaning friends who wanted to help things along. Anyway, I have appealed and will wait awhile before enforcing Plan B. A weekend away this week really helped me sort out my thoughts on this and now use dwelling on it.

Lots of other things going on as well. Last week was the yearly gala of the B.C.Travel Writer's Association. (No, I didn't win a thing although I was vying for the 4 days in Istanbul. Oh well...) And then I went to the Island for this weekend for a reunion picnic with my cousins. Next weekend is the Summer Dreams Festival (put on by Pandora's Poetry Collective) in Stanley Park. I'll be helping out with that and was supposed to do a workshop at it but so far noone has registered. At any rate, it will be a lovely day in the park with poets and other spoken word writers.

And...to put the icing on the cake...I got offered yet another "Life Writing" job, this time at another Community Centre. Previously I was given the job of Life Writer for a prestigious group at a centre called Brock House which is mainly retired university people. I'll write more about these later as they don't start up until September and are only 2 hrs once a week. But it's more feathers in my literary cap which pleases me.

BEERS WITH PEERS

Along with all this, I've been enjoying some fun with friends, and, as I said ...in the Park or by the ocean. The weather has been to incredible to stay indoors all day long tied to the computer. But, starting this morning I am back a t work on SHADOW again, making notes and doing some editing. I have some fragments of a new chapter started and want to carry on with it, not lose momentum like I did a few weeks ago. I also managed to finish another piece for my travel blog (see it at
http://travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com Titled "The Ecstacy of Food".
And...just found out another story is being published on-line (for pay!!) about Monamvasia, a Byzantine treasure in the Peloponnese.
Check it out at www.intheknowtraveler.com/2704
Oh yes, and I even prepared two blurbs for travel stories on Venice and Chile for that travel website syndicate that invited me to join. Now I have to write the stories and it doesn't pay peanuts but at least I'll have them done. Been procrastinating about that far too long now.

So now...back to SHADOW OF THE LION...setting up the scene for the big kill!
BACK SOON...

WHAT DO WRITERS DO BESIDES WRITE? PART 2: MY QUEST FOR TRANQUILITY

STRAWBERRY FIELDS WITH MT. BAKER IN DISTANCE

"Empty your mind of all thoughts.

Let your heart be at peace..." Tao Te Ching 16

And so, after the visit to the Buddhist Temple, and since reading that inspiring book "Eat, Pray, Love", I decided it was time to withdraw into a more peaceful space; meditate; keep centred; and be still...if I could be in this busy life of mine.

So the day after the two-day eat-a-thon, my two friends and I drove out to the country to get fresh strawberries. What a lovely day it was, and how sweet those strawberries, all freshly picked. We had lunch by the river first, then a stroll around the little town of Steveston (where I'd been two days before); then we went to get the strawberries. It was such a clear, beautiful day there was an amazingly clear view of Mt. Baker which is south in Washington State.


On my quest for solitude and relaxation I also went to the park one day. I strolled through the rose gardens, all the pretty flowers in full bloom. Now I have a collection of rose photos. So exquisite!
And then, of course, to my favorite spot on the beach where I went for a picnic after I'd had my swim in the pool (I do swim in the ocean sometimes but I enjoy the swimming pool then I usually come and sit on the beach. I find that being near or in the water, it seems to wash away all the tension and helps me relax my mind so that crystal clear thoughts come to me. I often do some of my writing while I'm walking or sitting on the beach.

So now I am trying to keep myself back on a program that will be condusive to create thoughts so I can proceed with the rest of the novel. I have been taking acupuncture treatments for my back and foot problems and it has helped a lot. Now I can walk again without pain, and I am feeling more limber each day. If I can swim a few times a week, do my fitness walking, ride my bike and dance! then I will feel physically better and more able to concentrate on my creative thoughts. I'll have lots of these solitary picnics this summer, plus little outings to parks and beaches. The clearest and best thoughts come to me when my mind is relaxed and free of the daily clutter and negativity that can sometimes clog it up. That's why meditation is so important for a writer.

"Do your work, then step back.

The only path to serenity." Tao Te Ching 9