Hello friend,
Four years ago today I was wandering around London with my then editor Anna Steadman, plying booksellers with Japanese treats from Minamoto Kitchoan, and telling them all about my book Wabi Sabi. It was at once excruciating and amazing, which is an odd combination that tends to lead you to eat your ramen way too fast… Anyway, today I am celebrating Wabi Sabi’s four year anniversary, and the fact that well over 200,000 copies have been sold. That absolutely blows my mind. That’s one copy of Wabi Sabi sold every five minutes since it was published four years ago today. That’s Wembley Stadium filled twice over with readers, and tens of thousands queueing up outside. (And I worked at Wembley Stadium for a while. I can imagine it filled with people holding up books instead of being dressed in football kits, and that makes me smile) This has been mostly thanks to word of mouth – that’s YOU. Thank you so very much.
And can I tell you a secret? I didn’t have ‘bestseller’ stuck on a visionboard for this book. In fact, it was after learning a lot about the pointlessness of fixed desire with the experience of my first book Freedom Seeker, that I let go of any desire for a particular outcome of releasing Wabi Sabi into the world, and so many good things I could never even have imagined have unfolded as a result, not to mention all the books I got to write since then. The importance of desirelessness is one of the radical things I explore in my new book The Way of the Fearless Writer. It goes against a lot of what we are taught about goal setting and bestseller obsessions, but I can tell you it’s a whole lot easier on the spirit, and the words just keep on flowing…
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I have a lovely Japan-related giveaway to celebrate this precious anniversary where you can win a HAUL of Japan-related goodies I have gathered for you. To enter please go to my Instagram @bethkempton and look for the image of me holding a map.
To every single one of you who has read, spoken about, shared or gifted Wabi Sabi, THANK YOU. I love you. And please remember, you are perfectly imperfect, just as you are.
Beth Xx
PS Do you know which are the most frequently shared words from Wabi Sabi? These:
Wabi sabi teaches us to be content with less, in a way that feels like more:
Less stuff, more soul. Less hustle, more ease. Less chaos, more calm.
Less mass consumption, more unique creation.
Less complexity, more clarity. Less judgement, more forgiveness. Less bravado, more truth.
Less resistance, more resilience. Less control, more surrender. Less head, more heart.
******
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Images Holly Bobbins Photography
