We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Willard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always wanted to write books, as long as I can remember. I was always the kid writing the 12 page story in 3rd grade, not the two page story. I figured the dream was not meant to be at some point, and got a degree in psychology, but that ended up being a great foundation to build my literary work on in the end.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I got really lucky many years back when I got a copy of “how to get your book published for dummies” and did exactly what it said. Feel incredibly lucky that led to my first book, Child’s Mind, and from there more speaking opportunities leading to more writing opportunities, including a few kids books like “Alphabreaths” the ABC’s of Mindful Breathing, and coming soon “Feelings are like Farts” – a book about how feelings, and farts, come and go, can be silent but never deadly and so forth. Hilariously, of all the twenty books I’ve written, including academic textbooks, that one got the biggest advance and a bidding war. I couldn’t be more excited about it, despite it being so different from my work on mindfulness over the past few decades.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d say take a walk around Cambridge and enjoy the brick sidewalks, see some of the institutions of higher learning, and then walk or bike over the river to Boston to see the parks and old architecture we have here. But then we are so close to some beautiful spots nearby in the countryside, amazing walks in the woods or mountains not far at all, and beaches on the ocean also very close by.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My parents?

Website: drchristopherwillard.com

Instagram: @drchriswillard

Linkedin: /drchriswillard

Twitter: @drchriswillard

Facebook: /drchriswillard

Image Credits
self

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