Back to silence

I hadn't been back to zen meditation since sometime in November, a combination of laziness and avoidance of Y., the new practice leader. Last night, though, I got a call from John, the friendly guy who was the temporary practice leader over the summer. He didn't call to "corral" me back, he said, but to simply ask after my well-being. But knowing he'd be there this morning, I got up at 5:00 a.m. for the first time in more than two months, and went to meditate again. The dreaded Y. wasn't there, so I was able to sit in peace. It was certainly worth it to see the expressions of surprise from everyone else.

Now, at 7:30 p.m., the missed sleep is catching up to me. But if I go to bed now, I'll wake up at 1:30 and won't be able to get back to sleep for hours. So I'll wait a while longer before hitting the sack.

This afternoon I saw my friend and fellow novelist Katia. She's one of the people to whom I gave the first draft of my novel, which I completed on New Year's Day, to read and comment on. She had some very technical craft-related comments to make, and I was really glad to get them, as no one else has made those kinds of comments -- feedback only another novelist would be able to give.

I'm very grateful to my friends and to my partner Cris for taking the time to read my lengthy first draft. Everybody's busy these days and it's great to have people who believe in me and support me so much that they're willing to sacrifice their time. Thanks, guys!

Finally, there's this article on Tibentan monks visiting Savannah, Georgia. Excerpt:

The dozen Tibetan monks that walked on the Tybee Island pier last Sunday morning had never seen an ocean before.

When they reached the end of the pier, they stopped for a moment. They glanced to the left, the right, and ahead toward the horizon, as far as their eyes could see. Then all 12 turned around and walked back to the van they had just climbed out of.

"What's wrong?" asked their escort, Murray Silver, who thought that showing the monks the ocean for the first time would be a momentous and special occasion.

One of them replied with a question: "Is it going to do anything different than it is now?"

I never get tired of going to Google news and searching on the word "monks."