LOVE OR MONEY?

I've had a lot of people die on my this year...well, three. My mom. My friend/employee Kevin. My dear, dear friend, Pam. All this loss has me thinking about the value of publishing, the value of spending my days staring at the screen, hanging on the phone on hold, reading manuscripts during the wee hours of the morning. Maybe I should be talking face to face with someone rather than looking at a monitor. Maybe I should be going to New York City to meet the Barnes & Noble person. Maybe I should get me to Greenville, N.C. for an author meeting rather than have pernicious email-itis. Maybe it would cheer me up to see a smile, or even a frown, as opposed to a web page. Maybe it would soothe my hurting psyche to travel to the big city even if it is only to learn that I've got it good out here in the hinterlands. Maybe it would change my attitude for the better to smell the salty ocean air rather than stay sitting on my derrierre sniffing the dairy air of Wisconsin.

All this reflection has me wondering...what's publishing all about? Today my conclusion is: It can only be about love. Money just doesn't cut it. A highly successful businessman I know says often, "Nothing happens unless someone sells something." I admire his financial success, but when his dog died his grief looked awefully similar to mine, albiet he was crying in a mansion while my tears fall on linoleum. The better saying is: LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO AROUND. So, my friend, above all else, love yourself, next love your others, finally, love as much as possible, knowing that all things will pass away and only love matters.