Thirteen years ago, I imagined publishing and what impact that could have on others who would be on the receiving end of one of my books.
From the Preface to my first print book, I imagined this:
"Remarkably, in this wonderful time, we are able to exercise our creativity like never before. We can write, design and lay out our books, have a publisher and distributor that we never meet face to face.
We can build a website, sell our book, express our ideas to a public we might never meet in person.
We are able to communicate with each other on this global scale and I believe that much good will come of all this.
If we use these resources wisely and with respect, we can create oneness that has the opportunity to spread peace, so everyone can breathe it in and take comfort knowing that there are those of us who hold others who are less fortunate in our hearts."
I have enjoyed some good feedback during the years since that book was first published and yet, when I received a letter from a 16 year old girl whose life has been impacted and influenced by one of my later books, I was given a great gift. A letter.
She writes:
Dear Pamela,
I really loved your first Simple Book. It really calmed me down and I enjoyed finding things I was grateful for and being able to write them down! I'm so thankful for your books and glad I was able to receive a second one. Your kindness and calmness really makes a big difference. Mahalo
That "first simple book" was a gift I gave to her grandmother. Kauai Gratefulness: Inspirations from Brother David's Teachings on Kauai. She had borrowed it and had taken it in, searching for certain phrases that brought something forward to her that she used to think about in her day.
I want to tell you that working within our own comfort zone with our available resources is more than enough to make good ripples from our lives out into the world. Receiving the gift of this teenager's letter, I felt that to be true for me. I hope that it is true for other writers and artists as well.
I work at creating something authentic in my writing. I am committed to being a person that God and others can know and be proud of how I am turning out. I face certain struggles, like all people do, but I use creativity as an anchor to my truest self. I have hopes and dreams like other people and they include continuing to self-publish, in print form, what I have worked on in ebook formats already.
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