My Book Signing Was More Profound Than A Dream Come True

I love books.  Words.  Writing.  Reading.  I always have – apparently before I could remember.  My mom says that I pretended to read books even before I could read.

In high school I hung out with a group of my friends in the library habitually before school started everyday.  Sitting among the books, we discussed the books we were reading.  Geekiness at its finest!

Not long after graduation, I visited a campus library, and the aroma of old books triggered for me what I would describe as similar to a profound spiritual experience (and I’ve had many profound spiritual experiences so far!).  I have loved books so much during my life that I even got a job at a bookstore during my last couple of years in college.

Well, about 20 years have passed since I worked in the bookstore dreaming of having my own book on the shelf, and on Thursday I had my first-ever book signing.  It was an absolutely wonderful event.  However, something unexpected happened to me…

There I was, fully anticipating I’d savor the moment of achievement.  I thought the thrill would be in the seeing of my book on the shelf or in the signing of copies of it for people.  And, don’t get me wrong, I was, indeed, very excited.  This was one of my lifelong fantasies coming true, but, suprisingly, what I ended up savoring the most wasn’t the achievement at all.  What ended up thrilling me the most was experiencing the gathering of loved ones who came to celebrate this moment with me.  They beamed their love toward me, and I felt it – and I even felt it from those friends and family members who couldn’t be there in person because they have all expressed their joy about my joy over the birth of this book.

After all is said and done, I guess you could say that I had another profound experience in connection to books again… but this time it has had to do with the love of and gratitude for those who share their journeys with me.  The book was merely a catalyst for something far more wonderful, and I have been touched in a way that goes much deeper than the already-deep joy that I have over making a dream come true.