Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew's Blog

I taught my first spiritual memoir class when I was twenty-eight, still in graduate school, and two years before my first book was released. Every one of my students was older than me. When I gave them a prompt, invariably someone ended up in tears. I was astonished; this had never happened in my MFA workshops! Nothing in my […]

The post Embracing the Writer’s Tears and Surprises first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

In a bizarre twist of fate, I’ll be the recipient of a chunk of change thanks to a class action suit.  Anthropic is a company that, without permission, used thousands of books, including Swinging on the Garden Gate, to develop its AI product. Presumably you can now tell Anthropic’s tool to write a memoir in […]

The post The Surprisingly Sacred Invitation of AI first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

What would happen if you dug through your memories looking for your soul’s journey? You would find moments of joy, shot through with brilliance.  You’d find unspeakable pain and grief and despair. You’d find sweet intimacies, wrenching doubt, steadiness, and regret. You’d find meaningless suffering and profound synchronicity. Most of all, you’d find mystery. Who are you, really? What’s your life’s […]

The post Holding Our Stories to the Light first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

About a decade ago I had a dream about my impending death. It blew me open. For weeks afterward, I was saturated by a silence so pervasive it felt like a presence. Once it dissipated, I desperately wanted it back and so plunged head-first into an ancient Christian form of silent meditation. I also began writing […]

The post Mapping Mercy first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

It takes a village to raise a child, and, judging from acknowledgement pages and how my writing group has saved my ass innumerable times, it takes a village to write a book. In addition to the obvious participants (your writing teachers and colleagues, your beta readers, your agent or publisher or local copy store clerk), we’re […]

The post The Village in Your Book first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

Why is creativity so nourishing? Why on a busy trip does an hour with watercolors settle my daughter’s nervous system? Why do ten minutes of journaling launch my day well? How did a simple circle dance, repeated over a weekend, deepen trust and add bounce to the steps of retreat participants? On a walk through a rough part […]

The post At the Heart of Creativity first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

Picture a tower of colorful building blocks. In a nursery school, this tower is likely constructed by an adult. A toddler waddles up, thrashes her arms, and the blocks come tumbling down. What fun! Gravity works! In a kindergarten, our tower is likely built by a few diligent five-year-olds. A mischief maker rushes in with a swift kick. Blocks scatter. Crying […]

The post Creative People, Banish your Inner Bully! first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

Despite publishing openly and widely about so much in my life, you may notice that I rarely write directly about two things: My Christian faith and my politics. I haven’t wanted these divisive topics to limit my opportunities to be in conversation across difference, something I dearly value. That said, my writing career began with […]

The post How do we live in fearful times? first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

So you’re at the sink, washing up the breakfast dishes when a writing idea pops into your head. It’s brilliant; it blazes through your body. Do you: A) Dismiss it because you can’t do it justice,B) Disregard it because the world’s on fire and there are more important things to do, orC) Heed it and head to the writing desk? […]

The post React or Respond: A Choose Your Own Adventure first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.

The following list is compiled from readers of my 2024 Year in Books list, which you can read here, and from members of the Eye of the Heart Center for Creative Contemplation’s Writing Community. If you’re looking for fellow readers and writers, I’d love to see you there. Reading means to be ready to catch […]

The post Books Recommended by Readers first appeared on Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew.