It gives me extreme pleasure to announce that my third book and first novel, A New Year’s Present, is finally here. Don’t worry, though, I have not decided to cast aside law practice and mindfulness teaching to become a full-time novelist.
Instead, this novel is an extension and an expansion of my life as a lawyer and a meditation teacher. As the subtitle of the book indicates, A New Year’s Present is “A Mindfulness Fable about Less Stress, More Calm, and Leaving One’s Ghosts in the Past for Lawyers (and Other Busy People.”
In short, the book is not intended to just be a beach read. Instead, it’s a fable. That means it is a teaching tool intended to help people learn about mindfulness in the form of a short, familiar story structure. That familiar story structure? It’s A Christmas Carol, which has more to do with mindfulness than you might think at first.
In this post, I’ll briefly introduce the book, share reasons that you might want to read it, and explain where to find it.
What Is A New Year’s Present About?
Much like A Christmas Carol, my book is about personal transformation. While some might argue that the mechanism for change in Dickens’s classic was ghosts, I have a different take. Just like with a meditation retreat, Scrooge transformed because the ghosts gave him the gift of clear sight.
In A New Year’s Present, our protagonist is not Scrooge, but Elizabeth Stroope. She’s not an old banker whose partner, Jacob Marley died. She’s a young lawyer whose boyfriend (her “ex-partner”) left her right before Christmas.
As you’ll learn, she’s also got a relative, Frida, begging her to come home to visit. And a work colleague, Ann Krawcheck, whom she doesn’t treat too kindly.
Elizabeth is a great lawyer, but she is a closed-off person with a broken heart. She’s got troubles in life and at work and she doesn’t know if she can face them. If you read the book, you’ll learn how spite and maybe too much wine causes her to go on a meditation retreat.
While there, of course, she’s visited by personal demons from the past, present, and future. You will have to read more to learn what happens next and what Elizabeth learns from her experience.
Can You Really Learn Mindfulness from a Novel?
Now, lawyers tend to be skeptical people. So many of you may be wondering if you can really learn mindfulness from a story.
As I have shared on this blog many times, meditation is an experiential practice. It is not one that you learn simply from reading or hearing about it. Instead, it is a practice that you have to do in order to benefit from it.
With that caveat in mind, the reality is that lawyers and all humans learn from stories all the time. Stories were used as teaching tools long before humans ever learned to write.
Fables have been used to pass down ethical principles for thousands of years. And even Buddhism, the origin of most secular mindfulness practices, was transmitted to practitioners across time and the globe in the forms of myths and stories.
The reason for this is that stories connect us, engage us, and remind us of truth in a way that facts can’t. As a mindfulness teacher, I know that lawyers need “how to” instruction to learn meditation.
But lawyers and all people also need to understand the “why” of mindfulness or they will never start. They also need to believe that change is possible for them. A New Year’s Present offers the how to, the why, and shows the results so lawyers can see see possibilities of a life with mindfulness.
Why Lawyers and Other Busy People Should Read the Book
Lawyers and other busy professionals should read the book for several reasons. As discussed above, I think it’s a good story. It’s a heart-warming holiday tale that may inspire new habits and inspiration in the new year.
Unlike a Hallmark movie, though, this story offers the chance to see something practically useful. Many people become interested in mindfulness practice but impediments keep them from giving it a real try.
These impediments include things like personal doubts, hang-ups or misunderstandings about meditation, or a lack of time. I try every week to address those barriers on this blog.
But stories do something explanations, presentations, and articles cannot. Stories help you see how something can be true. For instance, maybe you are thinking about trying meditation or even going on retreat. But perhaps you don’t because you worry about the lack of time and the potential return on investment.
This book allows you to try on a retreat experience in only a few hours. It allows you to see how mindfulness works in practice with all the bad and good parts visible. This means you get a chance to envision for yourself how meditation could work for you, even in your busy and imperfect life.
What Are Lawyers and Mindfulness Experts Saying about the Book
I was so fortunate for this book to have help and encouragement from a great group of people. Because this book is about a retreat, I was sure to seek beta readers who included lawyers, mental health professionals, and mindfulness teachers.
In terms of mindfulness teachers, I am pleased to say that the very best have shown support for A New Year’s Present. World-renowned meditation teacher, psychologist, and author, Jack Kornfield has called it “A year-round Christmas-inspired story for busy lawyers to remember.”
Suellen Fagin-Allen is a former lawyer, psychotherapist, and meditation teacher. She calls the book “tender without being soft, practical without becoming preachy, and emotionally honest without losing its narrative charm.”
Even people who are short on time and may not meditate appreciate the book too. Laura Vanderkam, time management guru and author, calls it “highly recommended” for busy professionals who want to learn mindfulness.
Frank Ramos, a lawyer at Goldberg Segalla with more than 50,000 followers on LinkedIn, says bluntly that “Lawyers should read it” because “stories reach where facts cannot.”
On the other hand, Jamie Jones, an attorney and legendary reader from Arkansas went straight for the heart. She said “I’ve sat in countless educational hours about our profession’s wellness crisis-but none that made me feel it the way this book did.”
Where to Buy A New Year’s Present
This one is very simple. You can find A New Year’s Present on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and hardback versions (paid link).
Thank you to all my readers, supporters, and friends who have helped me along this journey. I’m so glad to share the book with you. I do hope you enjoy it and it help you find some presence in the new year.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, A New Year’s Present, to learn about mindfulness from a heartwarming story. For a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days, try How to Be a Badass Lawyer. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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