Category Archives: Spirituality

On Dreams Etc

My parents are back from their trip to Italy, and when my mother called last night she sounded like she’d been roaming the pages of Janson’s History of Art, pages 278 to 473 inclusive (in the third edition; YMMV depending on the edition you consult, of course). I’m extremely happy for them; it sounds like they enjoyed themselves immensely, but I am just a teensy bit jealous. It comes from being so well educated, I think. If I’d never learned anything about art or history or Western Culture, then I’d have no reason to be envious, would I?

I’ll be interested to see the success rate of this dreaming true thing I’ve been experiencing on and off. Some events I’d like to see happen, such as the wedding of two friends at a particular time of year, or last night’s dream of a film starring Tom Cruise and Carrie-Anne Moss. Then there are others which I’d rather not see happen, like being told by a book rep during the winter that Terry Pratchett has just died. I think I’d like to be completely wrong on that last one, thanks.

Today, I sit down with my first NaNo novel and edit, edit, edit. This will be Edit No. 4, and, I think, the final edit before I write query letters and choose sample chapters to submit to an as-of-yet undetermined list of publishers. One of my cats has graciously consented to be in my presence this morning, so maybe today I’m not as cranky as I have been. Or perhaps she’s just acting out of pity, and it’s pure charity. Whatever her motivation, today will feature Maggie, laptop, peppermint tea, and lotus incense. And Mozart, whose music appears throughout the novel. (Yeah, I know; a CD tray full of Mozart should drive me crackers by about noon. I’ll strike back with Tori Amos when I can’t stand it any more.)

A Healthy Sense Of Humour

Dinner’s being made, so I’m still noodling about on the Wondrous Wide World of Web.

In seeking an author web site I found a welcome page for a hosting service which included the following:

Disclaimer:

Almost all of these sites assume you, Gentle Reader, don’t have a problem with one, more, or all of the following, and moreover that you are of a legal age, height, weight, state of mind, state of reason, or state of confusion to view this content in your community, city, town, village, borough, township, county, region, ZIP or Postal Code, state, province, area or city code, time zone, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, or parallel dimension to view the content therein. Not all views expressed are those of Mike and Lorrie, and I’m quite certain that views expressed by some of the sites’ administrators are not shared by others. Viva free speech!

Non-Christian religions:

Neither Lorrie nor Mike follow an Abrahamic faith. Few of their friends do either. If that bothers you, browse somewhere else. This means that sites hosted here are cheerfully pagan, and almost all are of a Teutonocentric bent. That means Germanic. That does emphatically not mean “racist prat.” Just so we’re clear.

Unusual spiritual practices:

Not only do we worship strange gods, but we wholly advocate doing odd things with them once you have Their attention. Magic, poring over quaint, dusty volumes of forgotten lore, several other things. Mind you, people who didn’t bail after the first one probably aren’t going to leave us here, but I thought you should know.

I like people who display healthy senses of humour. It’s good for the soul.

Apparently NASA had a sense of humour at one point too, but the proof’s been removed:

Told for the truth, guys. NASA actually has a document on what to do in case of a Viking Raid. Here at last is proof that NASA and the government does have a sense of humor after all! (Has now been moved from the original NASA site…updated as of 11/17/99) (Found on this list of barbarian literature, of all places. I’m looking for Diana Paxson links, okay?)

Yes, Virginia, I’m Still Anti-Social

We just got back from buying groceries, and for kicks my husband tossed a box of Sugar Crisp into the basket. We opened it when we got home for a quick nibble while we put the groceries away, and dear gods, it’s just the taste I remember from the isolated encounters I’ve had here and there in the past. How on earth to kids get away with eating this candy for breakfast? I’d ration it out as a treat, or dessert.

Although I had a wonderful class on Saturday discussing films, I’m still in that odd anti-social mood, complete with persistent headache. I’m not fit company for man or beast, as my cats have plainly shown me. The light hurt my eyes all weekend too, which was absolutely no help when it came to trying to read or sit down at the computer. This may or may not have something to do with removing and washing the front windows. The amount of filth that came off them was absolutely disgusting. I’m betting they haven’t been washed in well over two years. The light quality has certainly changed in the living room.

And in an effort to help strengthen my bad wrist, I picked up a 2 lb weight at Canadian Tire yesterday. I’ve been doing over and underhand curls with it while I read, and it feels great. My husband had to remind me to work the other wrist too, just to balance things out. We’ll see how things develop.

Yup. Doing some serious withdrawing, in case you hadn’t noticed. These are the highlights of my life.

Did I mention I woke up at 3.30 AM and decided to research Norse deities, since sleep was denied me? And that I received my new Medicare card in the mail?

Teaching Again

I taught another workshop last night. Since registration has been terrible since the beginning of the year, this is actually only the second public workshop I’ve led in the past five months. It was nice to be back.

Also nice were the fees I collected. After paying for rental of the space, I have enough to relax, stop by the secondhand bookstore around the corner, and think about having a lime soda without feeling guilty regarding where the dollar-fifty ought to be going instead. The money’s not the reason I teach, and I’ll never make a living from it, but it’s a nice perq.

On Coincidence

I had the joy of spending Victoria Day outside with a few good friends at a spontaneous picnic. Simple pleasures: roast chicken, a few different kinds of fresh bread, warm strawberries, grapes, cool drinks, and total relaxation. All stresses were forgotten as we nibbled and laughed and played with my lovely goddaughter, who had more energy than the adults lazing about. Plus, I got a bit of sun, which, if you’ve seen my milky-pale skin, is a blessing. I no longer look like a creature of the night.

I happened to stop in at the secondhand bookstore around the corner and brought home quite the find: a copy of Connie Willis’ Lincoln’s Dreams. I’m a huge Connie Willis fan. I am not, however, a fan of charging $9.99 for a two hundred page book, and for some reason I never picked this one up when it was cheaper. (Actually, I know the reason: I’m not a Civil War fan.)

Well, apart from being immensely smug about scoring a Connie Willis book secondhand, I discovered that this book fits right in to my life at the moment. It’s not about the Civil War. (Well, sort of, but it’s a means to a different end.) It’s about dreams.

Now, I love how Connie Willis examines the whole what-is-real perception of reality, and time-travel, and life vs death. At this particular point in time, however, when part of my attempt to solve my sleep problems involves recording dreams, this particular book becomes even more fascinating. Especially since I’ve started noticing that every once in a while, I “dream true” – I’ll write something down in my notebook when I wake up, and a couple of days later something very much like it happens in the real world.

There’s no such thing as coincidence, I’m fond of telling my students, since everything’s connected by energy of various sorts. I’m also a Jungian, which means that I subscribe to that whole collective unconscious idea. I also think that our human concept of time is a construct to make our lives easier, sort of like democracy. So, why can’t someone start picking up the dreams of a man involved in the Civil War? What’s to stop me from having the odd dream about something that (in our childlike perception of “linear time”) hasn’t happened yet? Why does man stubbornly insist that memory only stretches backwards, because he has experienced it? We know the future exists, because today was yesterday’s future. By extension, we’re living in someone’s past.

Mankind places a lot of weight on what is verifiable by sensory proof, and yet is incredibly subjective about other concepts that require faith. Some are inviolate – of course it’s true, even though it cannot be proven – and others are flatly dismissed without even a second thought – that’s impossible. It’s absolutely fascinating to see how uneven we are, and how strongly we’ll defend certain ideas, yet obstinately push away others. Man’s a hypocrite. A loveable, frustrating, contradictory, inconsistent hypocrite.

Offhand

After an hour and a half break to take an Advil, make and eat dinner, and have a glass of wine, I’m back at the computer. Hey, don’t try to stop me. I’ve been restless and not-work-y for the past ten days; let me work while I’m happy to work!

Besides, it benefits two parties: the employer who needs this freelance work done, and me, because my work makes money so that I can buy more books. (This is serious. I’m currently in the throes of Egyptian and Norse mythology heaven, and I’ve got a list of titles I want as long as my arm.) Plus I’m multi-tasking: while one page loads, I’m searching out new links with the other.

Eventually I’ll stop, and I’ll watch Buffy or something. Speaking of, was anyone else left a bit off-balance by the Angel season finale? It was great, and tied up loose ends while preparing for a new season, but I guess I’m just too used to mass violence and cataclysm on Angel these days. There was surprisingly little cataclysmic action in this episode. It made for a nice break for the characters, of course – who, come to think of it, were left as equally off-balance.