A Launch Party and Nuts

Sunday was an exhilarating and special day for me. The book launch party for “On the Way to Finding Ease” was a success! When I did my reading from the book at 2:00 p.m., the venue was full of friends and family. Some had traveled from Iowa to be there, others traveled from different parts of the metro. High school friends who share decades of history with me were there, as were work colleagues who share an office area with me. Three of my siblings and their spouses were there. Recovery friends and fellow writers showed up. I was humbled and energized by the turnout.

My husband Darcy and I wore t-shirts inspired by my Aunt Helen. She showed up at my mom’s 95th birthday gathering with this shirt on. She had it made because she likes my book and wants to help promote it. I was so touched by this gesture. It was a pleasant surprise back in February and it was fun for Darcy and I to wear our own shirts Sunday. What better place to wear them than at a book launch party? Helen, now the sole surviving sibling of her generation, wasn’t able to attend on Sunday, but I felt her presence. I felt my mom’s presence too. She died on February 28, just one week after we had gathered for her birthday. I felt the presence of my own life’s journey and the healing and transforming that continue.

I appreciated the introduction from my dear friend, and wonderful editor, Liz. It included these words: -You know she shares her thoughts so well that she makes us think writing is easy. But the truth is that the journey of writing, especially writing a book, is hard and involves great commitment. Her poetry inspires and encourages, as we can see in one of my favorite poems where she writes: "When the perilous net of self-pity wants to stretch wide, throw the liberating net of grace-filled gratitude wider still.” Thank you Liz!

Here is one of my own favorites from the book, and where the nuts in the today’s post title come in:

Back and Forth/Morbid Reflection

I can make an art form of turning every thought

into a draining rumination on shortcomings and regret.

It is ugly art, produced prolifically.

The squirrel I am watching out the window

scampers and gathers with singleness of purpose.

Moving back and forth, this creature's art flows uninhibited.

My mind wastes stores of energy, a negative loop on repeat,

while the squirrel simply creates daily sustenance.

One of us is storing nuts, the other is driving herself nuts.

-Lisa Valentine- (found on p. 23 of “On the Way to Finding Ease”)

And here is the video of my reading, captured by a friend. Thank you to all who were able to be there and all who support my writing in so many different ways. Write on!