Mark Nepo has discovered that writing and other forms of expression can be especially effective in assisting our spiritual growth. Nepo tells of his experience, how he loosens the knot of his limiting mind when it is swirling with assumptions and conclusions. “When I am stuck in my mind, when I can’t figure out a problem, when I am confused or things are complicated and I can’t take things in and express them, I turn to the heart and that will start to loosen the knot in my mind. Also, when I’m struggling and stuck in my mind, I will loosen the knot if I give my attention fully to the nearest thing. I will become present again.” He is a learner of the heart, not a specialist of the mind. His work, his writings, his many books, his poems, and his workshops are all about creating a sacred place where the experience of honest truth can happen. Even in our deepest moments of suffering, he encourages us to seek out slivers of light seeping through the broad slats of darkness. This deep dialogue explores how art and creative expression can bring our deepest truths to light and give voice to our most original self as a way to fully enliven our life. His genius is to discover metaphors as a way of understanding and making meaning of our lives. He says, “Metaphor has its own agency. We don’t create it or invent it. We discover it.
