Tammy Letherer 
I’m so grateful for the friends, old and new, who came to my book signing at Women and Children First Bookstore! I was especially surprised to see a few faces I had not seen in fifteen or twenty years; the spark of recognition in meeting again was indescribable.
That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? A spark of recognition.
I write in pursuit of it.
I read in search of it.
I connect with friends for the joy of it.
If I’m lucky, it’s a spark that leaves me—and you—speechless.
I realized this last week when I got an email from my brother. My close friends know that my brother and I have not been talking lately. But he read The Buddha at My Table and sent me a lovely, effusive message about how much he enjoyed it. After one compliment his sentence trailed off and he wrote: …..there are no words.
That is the highest praise I could ever receive.
Because the most important things in life transcend words. Eckhart Tolle says words are merely pointers directing us toward what’s real. The Buddha said, “I am a finger pointing toward the moon. Don’t look at me. Look at the moon.”
Surely it’s the goal of every writer to convey the moon, to use words in such a way that the reader is left with no words.
I can think of no greater joy.
Of course, there are times, like when you’re sitting in a roomful of people trying to talk about a book you’ve written, when words are necessary and important. Those times can be daunting to a writer who would rather be able to rewrite and edit every sentence.
In those moments it’s easy to worry: Did I say the right thing?
It’s easy to be distracted and nervous when I feel all eyes on me. But then I remember: Oh right. They are not really looking at me, because I am not the moon. I am one little pointer finger.
But this little finger is bursting with love, happy to be part of the body that gathered for one night, happy to be connected to you!
