Every year, over 200 Jewish authors have the opportunity to present their new book to an audience of book fair professionals and lay leadership from the 110 Jewish book festivals in the United States. The venue is HUC-JIR in Manhattan, in the sanctuary, which lends a holy spirit to the wholly nerve wracking experience!
As a board member of the Jewish Book Council, and as a chair of the San Diego Jewish Book Fair for many years, I never “stood in the shoes” of the authors giving their 2-minute pitches. This year, as I sat freezing in my seat, cold air blowing down on my head while waiting for my name and page number to be announced to the audience, I was struck by the sheer breadth and depth of brilliance and excellence of my fellow authors. Every single page in the “book bible,” the fat spiral bound book listing the author’s name, bio and photo, book photo and blurb, held a treasure. Each speaker was phenomenal. I wanted to read every single book, and know all these interesting and talented tribesmen.
Even though I am an accomplished public speaker, I was so nervous that I had to stuff myself with Imodium to make it through the day. More than once I told my inner critic to shut up and sit down. Grounding myself through the soles of my feet, I contemplated my here and now stone; dropped down to notice what was going on in my body, and sent words of self compassion for my nervousness, and words of support and blessing for myself. Those are but some of the many techniques that I teach in the Mindful Methods for Life curriculum, and that make up the self help sections of my new mindfulness memoir, Life Falls Apart But You Don’t Have To: mindful methods for staying calm in the midst of chaos.
My website has good free content in case you are curious (mindfulmethodsforlife.com) and in case you hope some day to pitch your book, you can check out the venue and find my 2-minute pitch here. May you be safe, happy, healthy and live your life with ease!
There’s the proof, in our tradition and our text. 2021 will be a very positive year.
Get To Know The Author
Wexner Heritage Alum Julie Potiker (San Diego 2) teaches mindful self-compassion and is the founder and chair of the Balanced Mind Meditation Center. Her life experiences inspired her to study mindfulness and write Life Falls Apart But You Don’t Have To. She created Mindful Methods for Life, a proprietary system that rewires the brain for greater happiness and resilience and has helped bring the science
behind mindfulness to people in all walks of life. Julie received her bachelor’s degree in general science (with a concentration in psychology and theater) from the University of Michigan and her JD from George Washington University.
