When you lose someone, well-meaning people give you books full of supposedly uplifting platitudes: “time heals all wounds;” “there is a purpose to this;” “you will find closure.” But, as non-religious baby-boomer Carla Malden says, she found them useless. She shares the highs and lows, sparing nothing in her truth-telling. You will…

Mackey writes both prose and poetry and has published many novels, including her historical fiction of Neolithic times, and many highly acclaimed books of poetry. She reveals her writing and creative process and how each kind of writing requires a different approach. She describes her process of “creative trance” that…

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…

Having had had two spinal surgeries, ending up with kidney failure, ulcers and post-operative infection, David Hanscom has first-hand knowledge of chronic pain. This has left him with extreme empathy for patients who come to him. Since medical school he’s educated himself on mind/body syndromes. Discovering he had a lot…

In this interview Vecchione, writer and teacher of poetry,  shares stories of her work with immigrant children and poems. Many of the struggles faced by young immigrants are the same all youth face: isolation, self-doubt and confusion. Vecchione discusses the healing power of poetry and puts a personal face on…

  Here Houston takes us through the life journey that led her to buy a piece of ranch land in the southwest corner of Colorado. She knew nothing about ranching but with the help of many people and animals her wandering life became tethered to the land. She describes the…

Jane Hirshfield points out that many people turn to poetry in times of great life transitions. She says, “You know when people fall in love, or when they lose love, or lose someone they loved, that is when they want a poem. When they get married, they want a poem. These great…

At some point in our lives we experience pain. Living with physical or emotional pain is part of the journey of being human. And when pain refuses to go away, we strive to reduce it or move through our lives despite the pain. Most of us are looking for one…

It is hard to let go of things – so much so that in the U.S. we spend more than twenty billion dollars a year on self-storage units. Besides dealing with our own stuff, many of us are finding we are also dealing with our parents’ and grandparents’ stuff as…

DeSilver describes how writing from the body rather than the head is a visceral experience that connects us with our intuition. He says, “Everybody is a creative person. It’s a matter of where you have been putting your attention. . . This is an invitation to reconnect with the power of…