Fostering Compassion Across Cultures

Finally...

I'm relieved and excited that The Bird and The Fish: Memoir of a Temporary Marriage is published and available from Lulu Publishers. It will be another few weeks before Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the Ingram network can offer the book as well.

The writing and publishing process has been a long journey for me that started with a wish to create greater compassion and understanding between people in the United States and Iran. After having a few people read the unpublished manuscript, I learned that my original wish might not be granted. Each of us comes to a story with our own lens, and what we see and allow to enter our consciousness is processed through all our other stories, especially the ones we heard and learned as children.

I'm working on letting go of expectations about how my story will affect readers. Results are out of my control, right? And we humans are experts at judging people as good or bad, right and wrong, kind or mean. No one enjoys negative judgments and so I'd like to ask you that if you notice yourself getting irritated, frustrated or angry by Afshin or Miriam’s words or actions, would you ask yourself what might be motivating them? Would you see if you can come up with three guesses? My hope is that by doing that you will connect with them compassionately.

Have you ever been convinced that you knew why someone acted a certain way only to find out later that you were mistaken? With curiosity and openness I've learned a lot about myself and others. That's why I’m inviting you to keep those characteristics in the back of your mind as you read.

Thank you for your consideration,

Miriam