Description of the Work.

The book deal happened four weeks ago. It feels like four years ago. Thanks to the hedonic treadmill, I’ve absorbed it into my day-to-day bloodstream very quickly.

I think this kind of adaptation is a peculiar feature of sudden good fortune. For that reason, it’s at least as important to practice gratitude in good times as in bad.

The other day, I sat down to sign my book contract before heading out the door to cycling class. I realized I was about to rush through it. So I put my pen down and closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against the edge of my writing desk, and started remembering things, like…how difficult Ethiopia was. And then the remembrances turned immediately to thanks, which started to snowball: “Thank you, Sisay, for taking me to dinner in Addis at a place I never would have found on my own. Thank you Melissa, my boss at Catalent, for hiring me even though I insisted on 40-hour weeks and it cost you, later. Thank you Steffi, my writing partner, for reading a first draft of the novel that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Thank you, all beings seen and unseen whom I enlisted for help along the way. Thank you, my dear friends. Thank you, my dear family. Thank you, Mom. Thank you, God. Thank you, spirits. Thank you, universe. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Once I started saying it, I couldn’t stop.