
The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life

Any time I ask my children if they want to play something or have a dance party they always say yes. We have journaling club every Monday after school. We cut stuff out of magazines, stamp with our fingers, draw maps and houses, write about our dreams. We are not trying to achieve anything; we are just enjoying time together creating, with snacks.
Beth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
Writing can be medicine for our modern ills. It can be a tool to help us excavate our lives and begin to understand ourselves and others. It can help us grapple with desire, navigate change, cope with stress, celebrate, offer thanks, grieve, heal, and inspire others. Writing can be a means of escape, or a way to arrive fully in this moment, appreci
... See moreBeth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
I like writing at my desk, but I don’t make it a condition of writing. I like lighting a candle first, but I don’t make that a condition of writing. I like the rhythm of showing up early before the day begins, but I don’t make that a condition of writing either. While routine and a dedicated writing space can encourage you to write, there is value
... See moreBeth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
When we engage with our breath and our bodies before we write and as we write, the experience of writing is elevated. We can retreat from the chatter of busy mind and reach into the depths of wild mind, shifting our stuck energy and transmitting a sense of aliveness into our words.
Beth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
When embarking on a great project, start where you are with something small. JAPANESE PROVERB
Beth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
I let go of my own desire, relinquishing any specific ambitions for the book, and I simply focused on the practice of writing instead. I started to treat that practice as sacred. I brought ritual to my work and opened up to not knowing what would happen next. I entertained the paradox that our writing matters immensely, and not at all. In doing so
... See moreBeth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
Breath is a bridge between body and mind. KAZUAKI TANAHASHI1
Beth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
The more I tried, the harder it got. Until it all got too much, and I finally surrendered.
Beth Kempton • The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life
be enough for now? When we do this we realize that everything we need is already here. We do not need any kind of external validation or material success in order to write, or keep writing. When we focus on writing as a sacred act, we stop trying to control what happens. A writing life stops being something we dream about and becomes something we a
... See more