writing as a tool of awakening
I consider my books artifacts
from my spiritual practice.
They weren’t originally written for an audience, but to help me understand and integrate some of what is baffling about being a human alive at this time. It helped me to write them, and my hope is that they might inspire you to deepen your own spiritual and creative explorations — maybe even make a book of your own. You can support me and independent booksellers by purchasing through My Bookshop.
RIDDLE: Koans, poems & question marks
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"Exceptional and compelling, both visually and for its unique forms and inviting questions. Highly recommended."
—Midwest Book Review WHAT IF LIFE IS A RIDDLE THAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE SOLVED? This collection of poetry and images captures the open, ephemeral nature of life and of the self — not as an idea, but as an experience that comes from relaxing in the unknown. Written during the pandemic when I suddenly found myself sequestered on a piece of wild coastal land, the work explores my lived experience of openness, humanness, becoming and being in intimate relationship to the natural world. |
Lineage of the Trees
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"Haunting and stunning."
—Midwest Book Review "An urgent kind of real-world spirituality.... An intricate and captivating dual narrative that keeps returning to the magic of trees." —Kirkus Reviews (read full review) 2019 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARD WINNER. The last time Lata saw her Aunt Charlotte, she was standing in the attic window waving, a solid wall of fire behind her. Was it a suicide? An act of cruelty and madness? Or a form of fierce love? The story takes us back to find clues in Charlotte’s childhood and in the events leading up to the fire. We learn of Charlotte's deep connection to her Aunt Marie, who introduced her to the power of plants and trees to heal. We learn of her relationship to Jesse, who she meets in the stretch of city forest that she calls home. We learn of her fierce desire to protect the trees and the spirits who live among them — and the lineage of those who are called to open themselves fully to love, whatever the cost. |
Grasshopper Guru
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These intimate poems were born from a time when I was deeply exploring my disconnection from roots, earth and my own body. They are artifacts from my attempts to dismantle what kept me from feeling myself to be a full, spiritual citizen of the earth and cosmos. Many of the poems came out of solitary retreats in natural places, including the Himalayas and the Andes, and explored the wisdom of the natural world, ancestry, and the ways the past continues to exist in the present.
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Cartoon Kali
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This poetry collection emerged from a long period of solitary retreat and pilgrimage in India, Italy and Indonesia. The darkness of our collective issues provided fuel for me to question my conditioning and deeply reflect on love and fear, the darkness hidden in my unconscious, the nature of self and of reality — and I found it helpful to record snippets of these reflections as poems.
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The Big and the Small
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I wrote this story in one sitting in an attempt to see a way forward at a time when one way of life was ending and another had yet to begin. The truth is, we are always in transition whether we recognize it or not, but there are moments when the reality of this is laid bare and it can be frightening. This is the first picture book I have done, using my own scribble drawings. While we usually associate illustrated “Once upon a time” stories with children, I think this is a big mistake. Such stories speak the language of the unconscious and hold a great power for adults, being closer to dreams than to literature.
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Want support for using writing as a soul-deepening process as well as for creative expression? We should talk.
I mentor those who are interested in using writing for spiritual integration, with or without the goal of publication. Some have come to me wanting to use writing only as a spiritual practice and in the process, have discovered they were poets or storytellers or essayists. Others have come already identified as writers, and I have helped them bring their work to the next level of congruency and authentic expression.
I have also supported numerous authors as they wrote their books, helping them let go of the critic and instead, enter the spacious regions of deep play as the source of their work. Whether or not your work is ever shared with others, this approach to writing is a profound and powerful spiritual practice.
Intrigued?
Visit my Writing from the Soul website for more about this powerful and playful approach to writing, and email me to schedule a free 30-minute consultation so we can talk about how mentoring can jumpstart your authentic expression.
I mentor those who are interested in using writing for spiritual integration, with or without the goal of publication. Some have come to me wanting to use writing only as a spiritual practice and in the process, have discovered they were poets or storytellers or essayists. Others have come already identified as writers, and I have helped them bring their work to the next level of congruency and authentic expression.
I have also supported numerous authors as they wrote their books, helping them let go of the critic and instead, enter the spacious regions of deep play as the source of their work. Whether or not your work is ever shared with others, this approach to writing is a profound and powerful spiritual practice.
Intrigued?
Visit my Writing from the Soul website for more about this powerful and playful approach to writing, and email me to schedule a free 30-minute consultation so we can talk about how mentoring can jumpstart your authentic expression.
FOR WRITING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:
copyright 2019 by jane brunette