This has nothing to do with sweeps, but I've been a member here for about three years now. I haven't won so much as a postage stamp lately, but I do feel like a winner today, because my very first book is out. I'm officially a published author!!!
The book is called Buddha on the Backstretch, and it's about the spiritual wisdom that can be found in auto racing. I know it sounds weird, but I've been a NASCAR fan all my life (being a native Southerner, it's hard not to be) and I've been a practicing Buddhist for about fifteen years. The more I learned about Buddhism, such as living in the moment, facing the shortness of life, accepting what comes without adding an emotional story line to it, etc., the more I thought to myself, "These people remind me of race car drivers." I did a guest commentary for NPR on the subject, and it was heard by the editor of a book series on sports and religion. He contacted me and asked me to expand it into a book.
Here's the blurb from Amazon:
Product Description
Buddhism and NASCAR. By using Buddhism as a lens to examine NASCAR racing - and NASCAR as a means to illustrate Buddhist teachings, "Buddha on the Backstretch" provides a unique new perspective on the field of sports and spirituality. Not aimed solely at either Buddhists or race fans, the work's message of self-improvement via popular culture serves as a Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for a new generation. "Buddha on the Backstretch" considers mindfulness, handling setbacks, patience, discipline, heightened awareness, impermanence, equanimity, and how we face death. The work looks at why we need heroes, and how we can take a hero's story and use it for our own growth. Like an anthropologist, the author can take a story about loose radiator bolts and red North Carolina clay and tease out of it three different Buddhist elements of mindfulness. The aim is to show readers how to examine all facets of culture and all the people around them, and be able to find, in seemingly unlikely places, profound lessons on how to live. If the student is truly ready, then a NASCAR driver can be as profound a teacher as a guru in robes, and a serene Buddhist teaching as lively and colorful as a weekend at the track. The first work by an imaginative and quirky new author, "Buddha on the Backstretch" will alter the way you see the world, help you see wisdom everywhere and find the joy in the daily spiritual practice that is Life.
If you feel so moved as to read it, I hope you enjoy it very much.