My new podcast series, & thoughts about appearing on the Today Show to talk about it

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Hello everyone,

Guess what, I have a brand-new “Audible original” audiobook! I’ve been working on it for a few years. It’s called “A Quiet Life in 7 Steps.” And it’s designed, like this community, to help you to connect with the part of yourself that’s drawn to the quiet, the deep, and the beautiful. The audiobook draws on the work I’ve been doing for the past 20 years, bringing in other voices, and offering practical takeaways, exercises and meditations that you can use in your own life.

But first, I thought I’d tell you about this past week, which has been a bit of a publicity juggernaut, including a guest appearance on the Today Show, this past Monday. According to the Audible publicity plan, I was actually supposed to let you know in advance, so you could watch it. And I almost did - really. I had a whole post ready to go. But I never like the feeling of people I know, including my family, watching when I give talks or public appearances. And since I now feel that you and I know each other, I’m sorry to say that you are in this category. :) So many times my husband and kids and I have traveled together to this event or that one, and they always throw around a football outside while I give the actual talk. This time, you were on the proverbial family football field. But here is a screenshot that my colleague Renee took!

Also, here’s an interesting thing I noticed, during the interview. The gracious hosts asked me whether there isn’t something a little scary about going to the quiet and emotional place, where we ask ourselves questions like how should we REALLY spend our time, and what to do with emotional pain we can’t get rid of, etc. Isn’t there a resistance to grappling with these questions, they wanted to know. I’ve heard variations of this question many times before. But every time, it takes me by surprise. Because I can’t imagine this being scary. I always think it’s the OPPOSITE that’s scary - i.e., living in a social world where you’re not SUPPOSED to talk about the things that seem most essential to talk about. I wanted to say this, but couldn’t quite get the idea out - though I’m sure it was all over my face.

And finally, here’s a picture of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I’ve been a guest on TV before, including the TODAY show even, so I wasn’t *overly* stressed about it, but still. Going on TV is weird, aka really very stressful.

But, you know those moments when you make your way through some challenge, and then it’s done, and you’ve done your job as well as you could, and the sun is shining, and you see some beautiful vista that merges with, and symbolizes, the joy of your relief? That’s how I felt when I emerged from the NBC studios and saw this Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. So I’m sharing it with you now.

And here’s how I looked when it was all over, and I could go back to my real (quiet) life. You can see how happy I was to return to normal. I rarely take selfies, but this time I’d had my hair and makeup done and I was in the quiet of my own home, so I thought why not.

OK, so back to the audio series. If you’d like to listen, and you’re an Audible member, A Quiet Life in 7 Steps is already included with your membership – just click this link, and add the title to your library. Done! (And here are all my Audible titles, btw.)

But if you’re not, you can start listening with a 30-day free trial, or a direct purchase. In the meantime, here’s a trailer you can listen to.

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And finally, I’ll leave you with this question:

Can you think of a time you’ve had that feeling of emerging from a stressful event, and your joy and relief was magnified by and merged into a beautiful vista, like my Rockefeller Center Christmas tree? Want to share?