This is a really big day in my life as a writer. It is the first (and most important, they tell me) day in a week-long campaign to get my new book, Living a Charmed Life, into the hands of as many readers as possible. Anyone who clicks on the link and buys the book gets to claim up to 100+ downloadable gifts from other authors and teachers — including The Secret‘s Marci Shimoff; model, actress, and health authority Mariel Hemingway; John Gray (men really are from Mars…); Rev. Laurie-Sue Brockway; personal finance expert Barbara Stanny; the “comfort queen” Jennifer Louden; Judith Orloff, MD (Emotional Freedom); legendary artist SARK; Our Lady of Weight Loss Janice Taylor — and many more.
All this was months in the making and, in my own little sphere, a great deal rides on it. The
book business is in transition. It’s competitive, uncertain, and these days about as iffy as acting. What happens today has a lot to do with what my next book will be, who’ll publish it, and how much I get paid. The people participating in the campaign make it like a cool party with a whole bunch of my favorite people attending. The high stakes of the thing, however, make it more like a giant job interview.
Knowing this day was coming, I kept my calendar blank: no life-coaching appointments, no meetings. I don’t know what I thought I was supposed to do with this day except fixate on the book’s Amazon rankings. But yesterday, real life started to demand attention. Bobby, our 16-year-old cat, was more angst-ridden than usual. He didn’t like his food or his litter box. I was able to get an appointment with our old vet,
Dr. DiPolo. And my daughter, whom I haven’t seen in two weeks, since she and her husband started redecorating their place, invited me over for a look-see and a walk with her and the dogs. And a friend I adore asked if we could meet at a Starbucks so I could help her with the next step or two in her professional life.
Right now, I’m between the vet and my daughter’s place. I put Bobby in his stroller this morning and we make the trip via the El Bario car service — half the price of a pet-transport vehicle and as nice as they can be. After Dr. DiPolo assessed Bobby’s state (arthritis, a little dementia, aging kidneys), I decided to take the frugal route and come home on the subway. There’s an elevator going down at 52nd and Lex, so the only hard part would be carrying the stroller with the cat in it up the stairs at 116th. I should have thought of that when I bought eight pounds of bananas, tomatoes, and lemons from a street vendor. Still, we made it up the stairs, with thanks to God and the New York Sports Club. Bobby is resting after his adventure and I’m about to take off for my next one.
Am I watching my Amazon numbers? Well, sure, just not obsessively.
Living a Charmed Life is showing at number 199 now (it was 6,006 this morning), and number 10 among books on Personal Transformation. I’m overjoyed, of course, but if I were just sitting here thinking about my book and my self-interest, this day would be fulfilling in only one aspect of life, while the others waited neglected. But because a cat and a couple of dogs, my lovely daughter and a friend whose success means as much to me as my own, got me to pay attention to them, this day has some very Zen-like charms.
that the Master was asked what he did before enlightenment. He replied “I would carry water and chop wood.” So the students ask what he did after enlightenment, and he said, “I carry water and chop wood.” In other words, we’re supposed do the lovely, ordinary tasks the day presents. On your way to success and recognition and dreams coming true, you chop wood, carry water. On the days when success looks unlikely and you can hardly remember what your dreams were about, you chop wood, carry water. It’s grounding. And humbling. And satisfying. And enchanting.
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