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Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery
Writing to Awaken is an inspirational investigation of the self through expressive writing, guiding you along the path of awakening through radical truth-telling and self-inquiry. With targeted and revelatory questions, you’ll be prompted to explore your own personal narrative—to write honestly about your deepest wounds, greatest challenges, hidden gifts, yearnings, and opportunities for growth—in order to discover a deeply authentic understanding of yourself and move toward a more liberated, truthful life.
We each have our own story, a personal myth constructed from the content life presents we connect dots to shape the narrative, devise plotlines from circumstance, change characters, fashion conflicts, and adjust structure, settings, and themes as our lives unfold. But so often, over time, we come to believe that we are our story, identifying so strongly with the tales we’ve told ourselves and others that we cling to them for our very existence—even when they don’t quite fit. The realization that there’s a discrepancy between the narrative you’ve crafted and your authentic self can be disconcerting at first, but the exploration of that gap is a doorway to personal freedom, and this book will lead you through it.
The writing exercises in this guide, one for nearly every week of the year, ask you to tell the whole truth about your experience. In doing so, you’ll come to realize that once you engage in this radical truth-telling, expressing yourself with complete honesty, your story changes; and when your story changes, your life is transformed. Rather than sticking with your illusive and tricky “Story of Me,” you’ll be prompted to go even deeper, piercing your personal myth and illuminating aspects of psyche and spirit that give way to profound moments of understanding and personal healing.
This is not a how-to book for writers; it’s an invitation on a journey of self-discovery—a guide to facing yourself without flinching, accepting yourself as you are, surrendering to what is, and daring to question and transform what isn’t true. With Writing to Awaken, you’ll learn how to break free from the trance of mistaken identity and discover your essential, authentic self.
We each have our own story, a personal myth constructed from the content life presents we connect dots to shape the narrative, devise plotlines from circumstance, change characters, fashion conflicts, and adjust structure, settings, and themes as our lives unfold. But so often, over time, we come to believe that we are our story, identifying so strongly with the tales we’ve told ourselves and others that we cling to them for our very existence—even when they don’t quite fit. The realization that there’s a discrepancy between the narrative you’ve crafted and your authentic self can be disconcerting at first, but the exploration of that gap is a doorway to personal freedom, and this book will lead you through it.
The writing exercises in this guide, one for nearly every week of the year, ask you to tell the whole truth about your experience. In doing so, you’ll come to realize that once you engage in this radical truth-telling, expressing yourself with complete honesty, your story changes; and when your story changes, your life is transformed. Rather than sticking with your illusive and tricky “Story of Me,” you’ll be prompted to go even deeper, piercing your personal myth and illuminating aspects of psyche and spirit that give way to profound moments of understanding and personal healing.
This is not a how-to book for writers; it’s an invitation on a journey of self-discovery—a guide to facing yourself without flinching, accepting yourself as you are, surrendering to what is, and daring to question and transform what isn’t true. With Writing to Awaken, you’ll learn how to break free from the trance of mistaken identity and discover your essential, authentic self.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2017
244 people are currently reading
732 people want to read
About the author
Mark Matousek
31 books89 followersMark is a bestselling author, teacher, and speaker whose work focuses on personal awakening and creative excellence through self-inquiry and life writing. He brings three decades of experience as a memoirist, editor, interviewer, survivor, activist, and spiritual seeker to his penetrating and thought provoking work with students. His workshops, classes, and mentoring have inspired thousands of people around the world to reach their artistic and personal goals.
He is currently working on a book about friendships and relationships that is set to be released in June 2013. Stay tuned!
He is currently working on a book about friendships and relationships that is set to be released in June 2013. Stay tuned!
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 18, 2017
This book lead to amazing insights for me. It took me forever to mark it as a completed book, as I was doing the exercises and putting real, thought and effort into every exercise. Transformational, inspiring, full of complete, honest and real self discovery....I can't say enough about this book and all that it brought "to light!" With deepest gratitude for allowing me to be a Goodreads recipient to review this book.
July 3, 2017
This book is HUGE, not page number but in the way it is written and how much help is offered to a writer or anyone to build or even rebuild our personal and writing lives. My review is from the writer's eye and how much this book is helping me right now to recreate myself as a mom, poet, writer, and a friend to all my fellow writers.
August 24, 2017
Highly Recommend as a Writer and Buddhist!
Excellent Read...as a Writer and Buddhist...I connected with so much of his thinking--very much like my own. We share similar work as a writer and teaching artist...highly recommend.
Excellent Read...as a Writer and Buddhist...I connected with so much of his thinking--very much like my own. We share similar work as a writer and teaching artist...highly recommend.
September 13, 2017
Writing Exercises for Self-Discovery
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. Trigger warning for client case studies that sometimes include disturbing incidents, including rape.)
-- 3.5 stars --
I picked up a copy of Writing to Awaken about the same time as Getting Grief Right ; I thought that the two books, when taken together, might provide some guidance in using journaling and storytelling to cope with the recent loss of my husband - and perhaps figure out what comes next for me.
Divided into twelve chapters and forty-eight "lessons," Matousek challenges the reader to dive deeper; to find the truth behind your life story, which is often unreliable, watered down for mass consumption, and altered to omit certain uncomfortable truths. Though I suppose the exercises could help to overcome writer's block, you don't necessarily need to be a professional writer to find value here. Rather, Writing to Awaken is for anyone interested in journaling with a heavy emphasis on self-reflection and radical truth telling.
Writing to Awaken turned out to be a weird combination the expected/unexpected for me. I found many of the exercises intriguing, but felt the writing to be a little grating. In keeping with the book's cover art and copy, Writing to Awaken has a hippy-dippy, New Age vibe to it. Not necessarily/entirely a bad thing, though certain prompts had me cringing. ("Try to imagine your own conception. Conjure the primal scene in your mind, your parents’ bodies thrashing together. What are they thinking?" Really? What were they thinking? What was the author thinking? Thanks for an image I'll never get out of my head.) Additionally, the rehashing of key concepts at the end of each section seemed like overkill, especially when each section isn't all that long.
I also wasn't too keen on the author's judgey attitude toward a couple who survived the Holocaust only to instill a feeling of "paranoia" in their adopted daughter (because it's not like Nazis are still a thing, amirite people?), while simultaneously insisting that it's not his place to judge a client who just so happens to be a registered sex offender. Like, wtf? Maybe choose another case study?
I think what really rubbed me the wrong way, though, was trying to read the book cover-to-cover for review purposes, which turned out to be h*cka tedious. These prompts are really meant to be tackled over a period of weeks and months - if not years. Seriously, there's a lot of heavy stuff in here!
Even though I stopped reading at the 50% mark, I did copy and paste all of the lessons into a Word file for later use. Probably I won't bother with them all - see: parents having sex, above - but quite a few of them looked stimulating and incisive, at least at first glance.
Table of Contents
Foreword vii
Introduction 1
Part One: Who Am I?
1 Lifting the Veil 9
2 Touching the Shadow 27
3 Your True Face 45
Part Two: Exploring the Story
4 Demons at the Gate 63
5 The Question of Meaning 81
6 Love Invents Us 95
Part Three: Dropping the Mask
7 Social Persona 113
8 Learning from Loss 129
9 The Wisdom of Intention 143
Part Four: Awakening
10 Awakening Genius 159
11 Meeting the Sacred 177
12 Begin Again 193
Acknowledgments 212
Bibliography 213
http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/09/19/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. Trigger warning for client case studies that sometimes include disturbing incidents, including rape.)
When I was a child and magic was afoot, the word abracadabra was synonymous with the power of manifestation. I could wave my magic wand over Doris the princess doll, or Boris the stuffed panda, and practically feel them come to life under the gravitas of the spell. Later in life, as a Harvard-trained scientist and researcher in the field of mind-body medicine, I discovered that abracadabra is more than magic-speak or a song by the Steve Miller Band. These Aramaic words mean, “I will create as I speak.”
Tell a story. Believe the story. And voila! It manifests in your cells, your brain, your heart, your behavior, and the choices you make…or don’t. We embody our stories quite literally, as these days we have the brain scans and hormonal assays to prove it. Mark Matousek, who is a writer rather than a scientist, knows this as well. He sometimes refers to us humans as Homo Narrans—the storytelling species. Stories slay and stories heal. Their transformative magic resides in our ability to identify them, learn from them, and—when necessary—change them.
- Joan Borysenko, PhD ("Foreword")
-- 3.5 stars --
I picked up a copy of Writing to Awaken about the same time as Getting Grief Right ; I thought that the two books, when taken together, might provide some guidance in using journaling and storytelling to cope with the recent loss of my husband - and perhaps figure out what comes next for me.
Divided into twelve chapters and forty-eight "lessons," Matousek challenges the reader to dive deeper; to find the truth behind your life story, which is often unreliable, watered down for mass consumption, and altered to omit certain uncomfortable truths. Though I suppose the exercises could help to overcome writer's block, you don't necessarily need to be a professional writer to find value here. Rather, Writing to Awaken is for anyone interested in journaling with a heavy emphasis on self-reflection and radical truth telling.
Writing to Awaken turned out to be a weird combination the expected/unexpected for me. I found many of the exercises intriguing, but felt the writing to be a little grating. In keeping with the book's cover art and copy, Writing to Awaken has a hippy-dippy, New Age vibe to it. Not necessarily/entirely a bad thing, though certain prompts had me cringing. ("Try to imagine your own conception. Conjure the primal scene in your mind, your parents’ bodies thrashing together. What are they thinking?" Really? What were they thinking? What was the author thinking? Thanks for an image I'll never get out of my head.) Additionally, the rehashing of key concepts at the end of each section seemed like overkill, especially when each section isn't all that long.
I also wasn't too keen on the author's judgey attitude toward a couple who survived the Holocaust only to instill a feeling of "paranoia" in their adopted daughter (because it's not like Nazis are still a thing, amirite people?), while simultaneously insisting that it's not his place to judge a client who just so happens to be a registered sex offender. Like, wtf? Maybe choose another case study?
I think what really rubbed me the wrong way, though, was trying to read the book cover-to-cover for review purposes, which turned out to be h*cka tedious. These prompts are really meant to be tackled over a period of weeks and months - if not years. Seriously, there's a lot of heavy stuff in here!
Even though I stopped reading at the 50% mark, I did copy and paste all of the lessons into a Word file for later use. Probably I won't bother with them all - see: parents having sex, above - but quite a few of them looked stimulating and incisive, at least at first glance.
Table of Contents
Foreword vii
Introduction 1
Part One: Who Am I?
1 Lifting the Veil 9
2 Touching the Shadow 27
3 Your True Face 45
Part Two: Exploring the Story
4 Demons at the Gate 63
5 The Question of Meaning 81
6 Love Invents Us 95
Part Three: Dropping the Mask
7 Social Persona 113
8 Learning from Loss 129
9 The Wisdom of Intention 143
Part Four: Awakening
10 Awakening Genius 159
11 Meeting the Sacred 177
12 Begin Again 193
Acknowledgments 212
Bibliography 213
http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/09/19/...
October 20, 2017
Writing to Awaken
A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery
by Mark Matousek
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
New Harbinger
Religion & Spirituality , Self-Help
Pub Date 28 Jul 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Writing to Awaken Through NewHarbinger and Netgalley:
In this book Mark Matousek reminds us that many writers begin looking inwardly as children, trying to make sense of the world around them.
Authors often ask themselves who they are, in trying to discover their writing voice. But our voice is so much more than who we are in name. There are excercises that encourage you to dive deeper.
The author points out too that their are falsehoods of self. We are reminded too that fear and desire are two sides of the same stick.
We are encouraged too let our true face show.
In the second section of the book the author talks about exploring the story. The author points out too that writing sometimes evokes resistance. The author points out too that “Writing helps us wipe away debris and distortion from our looking glass.”
As humans we will do our best to try to make sense of our life stories. We are reminded too of the power of choice.
The author points out too that love invents us, that without the ability to nurture or care would be drained of significance. We are reminded too that just as we need to be able to love we need to be able to forgive as well.
In Part Three Of this book the author talks about dropping the mask. The author points out too that we wear masks for the acceptance by our peers. The author goes on to show us that we learn from loss as well, and that writing allows us to explore our losses.
In Writing to Awaken we are reminded too that intention matters, and that we need to focus in order to support our intentions. The author points out too that denying desire is dangerous.
In the fourth section of this book Matousek talks about awakening. We are reminded too that it takes courage to surrender to passion and to accept our unique gift. The author goes on to talk about the role that our beliefs play in our writing.
I give Writing to Awaken five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
October 28, 2018
Writing in a journal has been an important and long time habit for me. But Mark Matousek’s book has shown me how writing can be transformational as well as being an important daily practice in mindfulness and living in the moment.
I very much have discovered the truths in one of his concluding quotes:
“When things fall apart, an opportunity for transformation will present itself. Writing gives us courage to welcome change and meet adversity with an open heart and an open mind.”
I very much have discovered the truths in one of his concluding quotes:
“When things fall apart, an opportunity for transformation will present itself. Writing gives us courage to welcome change and meet adversity with an open heart and an open mind.”
July 27, 2017
How to Get Rid of Writer’s Block
Expressive writing is a self-care journaling technique that allows a safe environment to deal with emotions. Free-writing and self-inquiry deals with expressing all that’s repressed without hurting ourselves or somebody else.
Good News, if you are looking for a muse:
Matousek refers to the subconscious mind as the muse.
Guidelines to expressive writing according to Mark Matousek:
Don’t pay attention to grammar, syntax or elegant prose.
Tell the truth.
Bring the desire to transcend your story.
Maximum one-thousand words per response, “to help distill the writing and train your mind no to wander too much.”
Breakthrough resistance. Stick with the practice even though you feel discomfort.
Write in the same place and at the same time every day, at least five consecutive days a week.
Enjoy your solitude.
Use meditation, yoga, any practice to help you to settle the mind. Five minutes is enough.
Show up. If you can’t write, write about not being able to write.
In Writing to Awaken, Matousek shares 48 writing prompts for you to evaluate what’s blocking your life and your writing.
To start you can use the first one practiced by Matousek, he calls this lesson “The Creation Myth.”
Mark Matousek’s father left him when he was four years old. In the sake to fill the gap that’s an absent father, he hired a detective. He hasn’t found out what happened to his father, but he began writing his experience, and inspired his book The Boy He Left Behind.
In ‘The Creation Myth’ Matousek explains it doesn’t matter how much it’s true; what’s important is how we remember it.
Exercise:
Imagine the moment of your own conception. “Describe the atmosphere in detail, including your parent’s emotional, spiritual, and physical lives.”
Look into your parent’s relationship, “How has your parent’s legacy impacted your story? Do you see yourself as a product of love? Accident? Obligation? Confusion?
Do you identify more with you mother or your father?…If it was possible for children to choose their parents, why might you have chosen yours?”
The story is in our subconscious mind,even if we are unaware. Furthermore, to uncover our story, our memories and the labels we associate with it, has an impact on “who we believe we are and place limits on our potential.”
When we uncover our story, we “become the story-teller, not the story.”
ARC REVIEW
The post Writer’s Block: 1 Simple and Powerful Way to Hate and Love it appeared first on rosaelenad.com
Expressive writing is a self-care journaling technique that allows a safe environment to deal with emotions. Free-writing and self-inquiry deals with expressing all that’s repressed without hurting ourselves or somebody else.
Good News, if you are looking for a muse:
Matousek refers to the subconscious mind as the muse.
Guidelines to expressive writing according to Mark Matousek:
Don’t pay attention to grammar, syntax or elegant prose.
Tell the truth.
Bring the desire to transcend your story.
Maximum one-thousand words per response, “to help distill the writing and train your mind no to wander too much.”
Breakthrough resistance. Stick with the practice even though you feel discomfort.
Write in the same place and at the same time every day, at least five consecutive days a week.
Enjoy your solitude.
Use meditation, yoga, any practice to help you to settle the mind. Five minutes is enough.
Show up. If you can’t write, write about not being able to write.
In Writing to Awaken, Matousek shares 48 writing prompts for you to evaluate what’s blocking your life and your writing.
To start you can use the first one practiced by Matousek, he calls this lesson “The Creation Myth.”
Mark Matousek’s father left him when he was four years old. In the sake to fill the gap that’s an absent father, he hired a detective. He hasn’t found out what happened to his father, but he began writing his experience, and inspired his book The Boy He Left Behind.
In ‘The Creation Myth’ Matousek explains it doesn’t matter how much it’s true; what’s important is how we remember it.
Exercise:
Imagine the moment of your own conception. “Describe the atmosphere in detail, including your parent’s emotional, spiritual, and physical lives.”
Look into your parent’s relationship, “How has your parent’s legacy impacted your story? Do you see yourself as a product of love? Accident? Obligation? Confusion?
Do you identify more with you mother or your father?…If it was possible for children to choose their parents, why might you have chosen yours?”
The story is in our subconscious mind,even if we are unaware. Furthermore, to uncover our story, our memories and the labels we associate with it, has an impact on “who we believe we are and place limits on our potential.”
When we uncover our story, we “become the story-teller, not the story.”
ARC REVIEW
The post Writer’s Block: 1 Simple and Powerful Way to Hate and Love it appeared first on rosaelenad.com
August 9, 2017
* I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
This is not the kind of book you speed through. It is something you dip into from time to time, and work through the writing exercises. The author helps you become authentic, on the page and to yourself. You see parts of yourself you didn't see before, and you realize that you are on your own unique journey, not to compete with or be like anyone else. Sometimes the language and style felt heavy and overly academic, but the message and intent was clear - peel back the layers and discover who you are underneath, and live more fully, more true to yourself.
This is not the kind of book you speed through. It is something you dip into from time to time, and work through the writing exercises. The author helps you become authentic, on the page and to yourself. You see parts of yourself you didn't see before, and you realize that you are on your own unique journey, not to compete with or be like anyone else. Sometimes the language and style felt heavy and overly academic, but the message and intent was clear - peel back the layers and discover who you are underneath, and live more fully, more true to yourself.
January 6, 2018
Why read this book? "Writing helps you explode your self-imposed limits and move toward the unknown equipped with the light of self-knowledge". Mark Matousek guides you gently through the process of digging deep to better understand yourself. Filled with valuable exercises and questioning your long-held beliefs through the pages. A definite addition to your library if you are on the quest for self-discovery. This book does not shirk the reader's ability to take responsibility for their own life, and that's what I found most valuable.
May 9, 2019
Mark Matousek is a master writer. His book is a clear example of how to write one. He summarizes each chapter and provides probing prompts to “dive deeper” into self-inquiry. His emphasis on daily writing practice and the long-term benefits it gives is very convincing. Inserted true stories from his students are inspiring. I would keep this book for future reference as I absorb the lessons learned from reading it.
March 30, 2018
Writing, not for a living, but for life.
If youre inclined at all towards self-actualizaton and growth,and if you have even an inkling that writing might be a good tool for you, you owe it to yourself to read Writing to Awaken. This book is a guided journey into wisdom, using writing as a compass.
If youre inclined at all towards self-actualizaton and growth,and if you have even an inkling that writing might be a good tool for you, you owe it to yourself to read Writing to Awaken. This book is a guided journey into wisdom, using writing as a compass.
February 27, 2018
This has been amazing. I personally haven’t done any of the prompts but I really love the life advice in it. It’s thought out and (duh) well-written. You really are just a character living in a story but you decide what to do with the story.
July 3, 2017
An interesting guide to exploring oneself.
July 14, 2018
This has been a really useful writing book that has given me a different perspective on both my writing practice and my life. I feel I've learnt something beneficial from reading it.
December 15, 2019
Take the time to answer the questions and reread your answers. Don’t be afraid. Or at least admit that you are.
February 18, 2020
This book unearthed me. Transformative, honestly. Thank you, Mr. Matousek.
July 1, 2025
not what I was expecting. more pseudo] psych and not so much writing tips and ideas.
March 12, 2020
Wonderful suggestions for writing - inspiring ideas keeping focused broadening horizons. Going Deeper
March 2020 - rereading
March 2020 - rereading
April 16, 2017
Excellent !
Read
November 6, 2017Loved this book! It helps you to discover yourself by writing your strengths.You got to be trutful to self in order to transform your jorney to a new you.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews