I'm in the early foothills of Mount Everest as far as writing my next book. Hard? Don't make me laugh. This next book (still with humour) is about mindfulness since that happens to be the 'it' girl these days. Who knew when I studied mindfulness at Oxford it would become so popular? But it's still hard. I could have written a cookbook and stayed on the bestseller list for years. I could have just plagiarised from any popular cookbook, copied a few recipes, jumbled up the order of ingredients and use the instruction 'pummel' instead of whip and I'd have a hit with a photo of me on the front cover licking a spoon. Or I could have written another 87 Shades of Grey where I'd simply use 'whip' instead of 'pummel'. I'd probably have to do some personal research on the topic since I've never used a noose during sex.
So back to the question. Why mindfulness? I've mentioned a lot that I had a mental car crash seven years ago. I said, to quote Scarlett O'Hara (sort of), "I will never go crazy again". And so I've kept my promise to myself and haven't had an episode of depression for seven years. This doesn't mean I still don't have a daily frenzy of answering all inbox emails in one jaw clenching sitting - even answering spam asking if I want to purchase a special stool for the shower in case I can't stand up anymore. I also have my regular obsessive shopping mania for things I will never need but they're on sale; a gazebo with 30% off - you just can't pass that up. Even if I don't have a garden.
But aside from that, no depression. I don't mean a 'down-in-the dumps-boo-hoo-bad-hair-day' slump. It could be coincidence but what's changed is that I've been practising mindfulness for the last seven years. After the last trip to Hell, I researched to find anything that could alleviate my madness take the pain away. Please don't think I'm pushing some miracle cure like crawling to Lourdes to smooch Our Lady's feet. All I can say is I haven't had depression for seven years. Mindfulness works for me.
I'm on tour til the end of the month talking about mindfulness. A few tickets are still available - full details on my website.