Archive for January, 2007
mindfulness and anger
Jan 16th
The other day while in Hanoi a friend did something that made me annoyed and then angry. The anger came after the discomfort and I tried to tackle it with mindfulness, and try and listen compassionately to my anger and hear why I was angry. Although the feeling distracted me for a good few hours being mindful helped me frame a response to the friend that was more compassionate and less blaming. In reading the heart of the buddha’s teaching, I have found that I have to meditate more and practice more for this to become more a part of my life. It’s not easy though- and I am looking forward to going to the sangha tonight and practicing in a group once again after a break of five weeks.
a truth of the matter
Jan 15th
I’m currently reading Shantaram, an Australian novel about an ex prisoner whom escapes to Bombay- a true story-and it’s far more than the exotic travelogue that it could have been- it has a hard gritty truth about it- it shows the seedy horrible side of India as well as its captivating moments with some real personal reflection in it. I’m very impressed. I read an article by Zadie Smith which was mostly pretension but had two nuggets of worthwhile gold in it- about what makes good writing and (I paraphrase) she says that good writing shows a truth or perspective in it. She also says the self gets in the way- I think this only strikes second novels when you are suddenly aware of yourself as the author and have to put this external perspective created by media and press away. A truth (or reality) that I’m trying to portray in my short story work currently has the theme of coming to terms with or exorcising the past and coming to peace with it. It’s hard to not write the same story again and again, I’ve found I’ve been doing that lately, but that’s what all those other drafts are for.
pottery and TV
Jan 15th
Yesterday went to a pottery village Bac Tran (I think) and saw rows upon rows of pottery. We got to make some pots for ourselves- which was more difficult than I expected. Today the Gioi took us to VTV studios to see an interview with a professor from San Jose whom brought over 40 Vietnamese-American students to Vietnam to connect with their cultural roots. As a by the way thing, Mr Lam the director of the Gioi offered to translate some of my short stories and send them to Vietnamese literary journals- so I’ve sent him the three best ones from the collection I’m working on. I also met the Lady Botham who is a former ambassador to Vietnam and is very relaxed and casual- has excellent Vietnamese and has written her own account of what has happened in Vietnam. In the photo with this entry are the people I went to the pottery village with Tuan is the one in the yellow raincoat whom I met at meditation class.
brother in Hanoi
Jan 12th
My brother and Ian are in Hanoi for five days so we’ve been doing the tourist trail. First Ho CHi Minh’s mausoleum then the military museum. Ian works for the Australian War Memorial and comments that it is less biased than the military museum in Hanoi- which featured captured US “puppet forces” planes etc. We went to the Temple of Literature and the next day went to Halong Bay- which was hazier when I was last there but still beautiful. Have been sampling gourmet Vietnamese food (expensive!) and my first trip to a bia hoi- where I was the only woman drinking- something that I would not do on my own. I have also composed an article for Cultural Window the magazine that the Gioi publisher puts out on my impressions of Hanoi- sort of a more fragmented condensed version of this blog. I also met another Vietnamese translator Professor Lien Nguyen from Hanoi University whom teaches American literature and does translation for the author talks at the bookworm. I gave him a copy of the bilingual Fox Fairy story that I have and he will be sending me a novel that he thinks I should read (forgotten the author unfortunately!) I’ve also met a professor from the US whom is teaching in Hanoi whom may be getting me to talk to some of his history students- he bought Vixen and liked it a lot so met me at a gallery launch at the bookworm!
stories with spirit
Jan 8th
My grandmother whom suffers dementia and schizophrenia has been seeing ghosts in her housing commission flat. They are not threatening (so aren’t your run of the mill hallucinations). One is a man reading a book whom tells her “I see what I see- you see what you see.” This is very deep and makes me wonder. She sees these ghosts in the daytime which has happened in Australia to her but not in Vietnam. It is a vein of exploration for me- as you may have guessed if you have been following my creative work at all.
I have been reading a Thich Nhat Hanh book “the buddha’s heart” which explains his basic teachings. What I have come away with is a concern about my writing which can lead me into some very dark places. But I always come out again and always write with a sense of hope- not necessarily happy endings but a sense that not all is despair. Thay asks writers to write about healing and water non violent seeds rather than the stuff we are exposed to in the mass media.
I try to do this, and be mindful and kind to my dark places.
back at the bookworm
Jan 8th
I’m back in Hanoi after a refreshing hot and cool stay at home. My new abode in the room above the bookworm is fantastic, and so are Rob and Truong my hosts.
So far I’ve been eating some interesting food- hot che with ginger and dumplings which is a clear desert soup with black sesame seeds which is really nice, and taiwaness porridge of all things- with ribs and beef. I’ve also been writing , wrote two short stories and started sketching the Silence project which I’m working on officially from March this year.
I’ve also been web surfing and came across what for me is the definitive piece on writing from Ursula le Guin titled “Steering the Craft”. I have already discovered that my writing is about change and transformation and this article just confirms it. She also talks about how reductionist the conflict model is for writing stories.
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/SteeringCraft_57B.html
