This year Inner Traditions celebrates 35 years of publishing. Normally the milestones of turning 30 or 40 are more celebrated than 35, but when looking at this number (and looking back on those years) I see turning 35 as a wonderful achievement, a milestone indeed, and one that deserves a great celebration.
When considering Numerology, we don’t look at 35 as a whole, but we look at it as 3 + 5, and according to our author Harish Johari (Numerology) these odd & dynamic numbers combined represent free-thinking, but neither follow a traditional religion. The number 5 is noted as a restless number while 3 is noted as a good advisor and friend, so often they help each other. When added together we get 8, which represents confidence and determination. In the case of Inner Traditions turning 35, I couldn’t think of any better way to describe how our Publisher, Ehud C. Sperling, got to this “milestone” worth celebrating, than within the meaning of this number.
I’ve had the pleasure of working at Inner Traditions for over 10 years now, and every season I’m continually impressed with how our books impact the lives of our readers and how our company has grown and changed. In the past year alone we’ve installed solar panels on our offices, we’ve made the switch to recycled paper for a good portion of our printed materials, and we’ve put out some tremendously helpful books such as Integrative Therapies for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Myofascial Pain, The Honey Prescription, and The Healing Power of Energized Water not to mention fascinating eye-openers like The Purposeful Universe, The Secret Legacy of Jesus, and perhaps one of our most important books of the last decade, There Were Giants Upon the Earth. So what does it mean that we’re turning 35? It means that we’ve published a lot of meaningful and important books to get to this point. It means that our Publisher has been confident and determined and has kept us a free-thinking company that continues to bring forth works that are both enlightening and shocking, and it means there are many more years to come…..
In light of our 35th Anniversary we put together a small toast for Ehud at the Book Expo America in New York this May. Our Managing Editor Jeanie Levitan conducted the toast with an incredible short (but oh so sweet) speech, which was followed by Ehud’s reaction. Check out the video footage on this below. Later this year we are planning to have a company-wide celebration to honor Ehud and our publishing company along with family and friends. I hope to do this again….and not just at 40, but at 45, 50, and hey why not 53, as the numbers 5 + 3 equal 8, confidence and determination, and we at Inner Traditions have plenty of that to get us to milestone after milestone!
