As a writer, I’ve read a lot of books on craft. This is not one of them. It’s a book far more surprising and important in it’s abilities than that. All the techniques in the world couldn’t help me write an engaging personal narrative due to a deep-seated issue I was struggling with. That issue presented itself as a story I’d allowed myself to believe and be driven by. This book enabled me to dig into places I hadn’t felt safe visiting before, and through writing, dissolve blocked thinking that was holding me back in both my career and my life.

If you aren’t a writer but want to use writing as a tool to heal, this book will gently urge you towards bravery and in return, you’ll gain the clarity that staring down life’s hard spots provides. I loved the structure of the highly accessible lessons—all geared toward self-exploration. Mark Matousek’s radical honesty, psychological insight and spiritual wisdom are indelible. If you are striving towards more authenticity in your life, this book will most certainly move you in that direction. Writing as a healing modality is gaining credence and the lessons in this book, transformative in nature, are a terrific guide. Highly recommended.

A masterfully-crafted field-guide for exploring the vast terrain of the heart. Mark Matousek takes readers through a step-by-step journey outlining several major areas of self exploration.

Each chapter presents penetrating, thought-provoking questions/writing prompts to help the reader uncover their deepest thoughts, beliefs, desires and truths, many of which may have never been explored before.

Mark draws on his own experience and carefully guides the reader from one area to the next. The book is filled with many enlightening words of wisdom as well as powerful, real-life examples from writing students that bring each area of exploration to life.

By the end of the book, the reader will gain a wider perspective of their sense of self and connection to the sacred.