Parnassus Books is delighted to welcome Meera Lee Patel as she reads from and signs My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown.
You may recognize Meera Lee Patel’s work from her distinctive and dreamy watercolor imagery, which led to the runaway success of her first book, Start Where You Are, and continues to attract praise and an ever-growing fanbase. Despite this success, Meera recalls the many fears of her early days as a freelance creative: the struggles with loneliness, finances, artistic freedom, technical skill. Through honest reflection on these fears—sitting with them and examining them with curiosity rather than anxiety—Meera was able to dissolve the hold they had over her.
Now in her new book, My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown, Meera Lee Patel asserts that having big fear is an opportunity to make big change. “Fear isolates us, and I wanted to write a book about fear that helps readers realize they are not alone.” Just as she did with Start Where You Are, in this new book Meera helps readers identify, become comfortable with, and manage the emotional and mental blocks that stand in their way.
Meera asks the reader to see fear as guidance, an inconsistent place to recognize and become comfortable with rather than something to avoid. Through a mix of personal meditations, introspective quotes and questions, and awe-inspiring paintings, MY FRIEND FEAR provides a safe place for reflection, guiding the reader on an intimate examination of fear to discover how it permeates our minds, bodies, and spirits:
• What do these fears look like? What shape do they take?
• How does embracing fear change you? How does holding it closer illuminate the road in front of you?
• What kind of magic can happen when you’re willing to examine your own fear? What freedom can be found in complete vulnerability?
By asking the reader to evaluate their own lives as they read, Meera guides them to make plausible, lasting change. For readers of Gay Hendricks, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elle Luna and Rupi Kaur, My Friend Fear is a book with an ever-expanding lesson: the more you know about yourself and your own fears, the better equipped you are to turn your fears into beams of light that will guide you along your way.
Meera Lee Patel is a self-taught artist and author living and working in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to creating Start Where You Are, she has designed a line of stationery and housewares that is currently carried in independent boutiques and national retailers.
