Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression

by Mark Nepo

Overview

A deeply heartfelt weave of reflections and poems about what it means to live the creative, expressive life.

“I cherish the wisdom and embrace the practices offered in this luminous book.” —Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy

“Meaningful art, enduring art—and the transformative process it awakens—keeps us alive,” writes Mark Nepo. With Drinking from the River of Light, this bestselling poet and philosopher will lead you on a journey to discover just how art and authentic expression can bring our deepest truths to bear in the world.

In this collection of interconnected essays and poetry—covering subjects ranging from the importance of staying in conversation with other forms of life to a consideration of how innovators such as Matisse, Rodin, and Beethoven saw the world—Nepo presents a lyrical ode to the creative urge that stirs in each of us. Whether it’s the search for a metaphor to reveal life’s beauty or the brushstroke that will thoroughly capture the moment, Drinking from the River of Light examines what it means to go “. . . beyond the boundaries of art, where the viewer and participant are one.”

Here you will discover:

· The importance of openly embracing the full scope of your emotions
· The need for raw honesty and self-exploration in education
· Why a new perspective always waits only a “quarter turn” away
· The importance of staying in constant conversation with other creative voices
· The crucial difference between giving and getting attention
· Concrete guidelines for respectful peer review
· What it means to channel the sound of your innermost being—and the universe

In Nepo’s words, “This book is meant to be experienced and journeyed with.” Including dozens of journaling prompts and personal exercises meant to enliven the reader’s creative instincts, Drinking from the River of Light traces the search for our most essential selves and the importance of the life of expression to bear witness to the sorrow, depth, and joy of life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683642305
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	607,891
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 40 years. A New York Times #1 bestselling author, he has published 21 books and recorded 14 audio projects. Mark has been interviewed several times by Oprah Winfrey as part of her Super Soul Sunday TV show, and was interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages. For more, see MarkNepo.com.

Table of Contents

The River of Light xi

The Life of Expression xiii

Part 1 Basic Human Truths

Why Write

The Thread 4

The Necessary Art 7

The Unexpected Utterance 11

A Lifelong Process 15

Yearning to Be 19

Lifting Veils 21

The Gift of Vision

What It Means to See 26

The Origins 30

The Purpose of Will 33

The Unexpected Dimension 36

We Relate More Than We Author 39

Keeping the World Together 44

The Art of Perception

What It Means to Perceive 50

To See One Thing in Another 56

The Web of Metaphor 59

The Aperture of Intuition 64

Releasing the Divine 67

The Craft of Perception 70

The Chord in Our Heart

As a Tuning Fork 76

The Inner Experience of Truth 82

Life Marks Us Up 88

Feelings Are Paints 90

The Energy of Hope 95

Fitting Things Together 96

Part 2 Being Shaped By Life

Unraveling the Self

The Riddle of a Self 100

Love at First Sight 110

Living a Making 114

Bearing Witness

Looking at Life Together 122

The Power of Art 126

Drifting in the Immensity 133

Listening 133

The Instrument That Is You

What Is Voice? 142

The Quarter Turn 145

The Inner Critic 150

Diving Down and Coming Up 153

Love Your Window 157

Part 3 The Deeper We Go

Breaking Surface

The Endless Search 164

Venetian Interior 169

A Word about Effort 173

Giving and Getting Attention

Not Great but True 178

Staying Close to What Is Sacred 182

Pulling Threads 187

Travel and the Writer's Mind 192

Stacks of Wheat 199

Understanding Practice

Placeholders 206

When the Work Comes Alive 209

The Monkey and the River 214

The Practice before the Practice 218

Going with the Stream 222

Everything We Need 227

Part 4 Becoming One With

The Magic of Liberty

Slipping Through 238

Living in the Gap 241

Becoming the Poem 246

The Empty Saddle 250

The Timeless River

What Matters Comes Slowly 256

The Table Between Presence and Meaning 261

Peering from the Edge 266

The Wind Phone 270

Tins Belongs to Everyone 273

Gratitudes 277

Notes 279

Permissions 293

About the Author 295

Editorial Reviews

07/08/2019

Poet and philosopher Nepo (Seven Thousand Ways of Listening) provides personal reflections and exercises in this passionate testament to the spirituality of expression—particularly prose. “When we express, when we let out what is in... we are drinking from the River of Light,” writes Nepo. Nepo explains his writing practice and his goal, through it, “to become one with all we encounter through our enlivened practice of expression.” Confronting cancer as a young man led Nepo to reconsider his ambition as a poet and gave him his “first in-depth experience of writing as a spiritual practice,” which undergirds this project. Following each brief section on such subjects as “Yearning to Be” and “The Practice before the Practice” (about figuring out one’s goals and direction) are a few questions to guide readers’ journaling. Guided by the principle that “the life of expression is always concerned with the internal search for meaning,” this workbook and existential meditation on creativity often move away from concrete exercises to Nepo’s airy musings (as when he writes that metaphor is a means to “relate to the living Oneness of things”). Those interested in bringing spirituality into their creative practice will want to take a look. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Independent Publisher Book Award 2020: SILVER AWARD for SELF HELP

A 2019 NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD WINNER FOR PERSONAL GROWTH & SELF HELP

A passionate testament to the spirituality of expression." —Publishers Weekly

“Mark Nepo will guide you to the very source of your own creative spirit and inspire you to inhabit, trust, and express its radiance. This beautiful book is a gift on the journey of awakening.” —Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

“Hundreds of thousands of readers, including me, have found new life in Mark Nepo’s writing. We know that a great ‘river of light’ flows through this good man and out into artistic expression. In this heartfelt and beautiful book, Mark aims to help his readers find the river of light within themselves and learn how it wants to express itself. As Mark says, ‘all forms of expression . . . are meant to awaken the love that is possible in the world.’ Want to become a bearer of love and light in a world that too many find dark and loveless? This new offering by a spiritual virtuoso of our era will help you find the way.” —Parker J. Palmer, author of On the Brink of Everything, Healing the Heart of Democracy, and Let Your Life Speak

“I love all of Mark Nepo’s books, but this one is especially beautiful, luminous, wise, and helpful—a river of light for the thirsty traveler. We need beacons of light to guide us through these times. Mark offers a river.” —Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of The Seeker's Guide, Broken Open, and Marrow

“Sacred seeing is an art, and creative expression is a sacrament. In Drinking from the River of Light, Mark Nepo invites us into a living encounter with the Holy, as the birthright of all humans in relationship with the wild beauty of creation. As a writer dedicated to naked authenticity, I cherish the wisdom and embrace the practices offered in this luminous book.” —Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy

“In Drinking from the River of Light, Mark Nepo’s words land like dew on a thirsty leaf. He helps us see the artist within and takes the reader on a dance between oneself and Nepo’s shared wisdom. I couldn’t put it down and drank in every word of it.” —Zainab Salbi, author of Freedom Is an Inside Job

“Mark Nepo's latest book is filled with achingly moving and poetic anecdotes, wise reminders, and terrific quotes you'll never find on quotes.com. The invitation is writ large among these pages to pay attention to the world (and your presence within it) in all its rough glory—to love the truth of what is, using whatever mode of expression enchants you—as your very gateway to the divine. This is a book of refined wisdom, insight, and great reminding. Crack the spine of this gem, drink fully from the river of light, and as Whitman advised, go forth to ‘Sing the body electric!’” —Albert Flynn DeSilver, author of Writing as a Path of Awakening

“As a poet, Mark Nepo commands language with a fierce truth that is difficult, if not impossible, to turn away from. His voice and person serve that light that shines so brightly in the darkest corners of the world.” —Richard Frankel, Indiana University School of Medicine

“Mark Nepo is that rarest of literary birds: a Renaissance-style writer who dares to bring his whole hybrid self to the page—literary poet, unabashed mystic, homespun philosopher, cancer survivor, and impassioned seeker singing the glories of the world. This wonderful book is a deep dive into the universal art of self-expression, exploring how to give voice to our deepest, most original self in a world where we often feel unheard, and how to hear the voice of God in our own when we listen closely to what is inside us. Candid, rich, and consistently profound. I loved it.” —Mark Matousek, author of Sex, Death, Enlightenment and When You’re Falling, Dive

From the Publisher