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Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression
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
· 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.
“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
· 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.
320 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2019
146 people are currently reading
903 people want to read
About the author
Mark Nepo
50 books606 followersMark Nepo is a poet and spiritual teacher whose work explores inner transformation and the courage to stay open to life. Known for the bestselling The Book of Awakening, he has written more than twenty books and created numerous audio projects that invite readers to reflect, heal, and deepen their relationships. A cancer survivor, he often describes his illness as a turning point that shaped his understanding of presence and vulnerability. After many years teaching literature and poetry, he devoted himself to writing and guiding others through workshops and retreats. His reflections have been featured widely, including on Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday, and he continues to write about living with authenticity and attention.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 11, 2019
"In many ways, writing is listening and simply taking notes. One of the reasons I love the process of writing is that it enables me to listen until my loneliness opens into a blessed sense of aloneness. The gift of deep silence is that it allows us to let go of what we want so we can receive what we have." ~ Mark Nepo
Great book, a lot of insight that strangely enough is appropriate in my life presently.
Great book, a lot of insight that strangely enough is appropriate in my life presently.
May 30, 2020
Beautiful, beautiful.
I am reading this book in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. The death toll here in the United States passed 100,000 recently. There are protests all around the country after the death of George Floyd. I got up in the morning today with my legs almost shaking. It's been an overwhelming time recently... I am an author. This past week, I also did a lot of intellectual work. I wrote, coached clients, and did a Beta reading for a challenging nonfiction book. All the mental work along with all that's happening in the world has left me feeling overwhelmed and shaky. It's as if I have to process a lot of things and my computer is crashing. So, as I was in this mood when I picked up this book again. I have been reading it slowly, almost like a meditation. I felt an infusion of energy as soon as I read it. My body felt comforted. I felt comforted. Mark is beautiful, and I think this is a book both about life and writing. It's so beautiful -- once in a while, you come across an author whose mind you love. And you love them too. Because they are talking about things you have felt or have grasped for but haven't been able to say. This book is really like drinking from the river of light. When you feel worn and tired, you can go on again because the source or energy is not you because if it were, you would just lie there listless. But if you can drink from the river of light, from the energy that is all around us, you can be nourished and renewed. This is a beautiful, beautiful book.
I am reading this book in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. The death toll here in the United States passed 100,000 recently. There are protests all around the country after the death of George Floyd. I got up in the morning today with my legs almost shaking. It's been an overwhelming time recently... I am an author. This past week, I also did a lot of intellectual work. I wrote, coached clients, and did a Beta reading for a challenging nonfiction book. All the mental work along with all that's happening in the world has left me feeling overwhelmed and shaky. It's as if I have to process a lot of things and my computer is crashing. So, as I was in this mood when I picked up this book again. I have been reading it slowly, almost like a meditation. I felt an infusion of energy as soon as I read it. My body felt comforted. I felt comforted. Mark is beautiful, and I think this is a book both about life and writing. It's so beautiful -- once in a while, you come across an author whose mind you love. And you love them too. Because they are talking about things you have felt or have grasped for but haven't been able to say. This book is really like drinking from the river of light. When you feel worn and tired, you can go on again because the source or energy is not you because if it were, you would just lie there listless. But if you can drink from the river of light, from the energy that is all around us, you can be nourished and renewed. This is a beautiful, beautiful book.
April 19, 2020
This is the first time in a long time that I slowed my pace reading a book, and read with pure intention. Mark Nepo's work calls for that. He asks us to pause, to breathe, to visualize the moments and dance in the light. Although I chose not to do his exercises, I found them inspiring me anyway as I move through my life. His words have helped me focus on hope, even during these confusing times of sheltering and place, and not knowing where what will happen. I am truly grateful for this beautiful work. I know that I will be returning to it often, especially when I need a sense of light or hope in darkness. Thank you, Mark Nepo, for your inspiration and your words.
November 27, 2020
Mark Nepo has the mind and imagination of a poet and through his short essays and the journaling suggestions that follow them, he teaches the reader how to also think like a poet. Filled with this beautiful language of poetry and metaphor, Drinking from the River of Light is an examination of the creative process and especially how it can also be a spiritual process and one of revelation and self-discovery. Nepo repeatedly demonstrates how poetic metaphor can be used as a vehicle to understanding as well as a connection to all that is true and beautiful in life. And with the author’s own personal recollections and the sharing of some of his poetry, his gentle wisdom meets you where you are and helps you find the way to the next step on your own creative journey.
December 4, 2020
This book has to be read slowly, as every passage is so deep and beautifully written. It was a beautiful read, and one that is so easy to revisit. Definitely will be coming back to this one.
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August 20, 2022Lost interest after several chapters. Not the book’s fault!
January 11, 2020
If you want to read a lot of terrible books with terrible advice written by people who are absolutely ignorant about what they are talking about but cannot stop writing about it, a great subject to do a lit review about is the subject of creativity. In few subjects are people so willing to expose themselves to the ridicule of the world for the nonsense they spout out while being so woefully ignorant about even the basic and fundamental aspects of the given topic. In reading about creativity, it is very common to see a lot of information about people who think of themselves as being creative in particularly important ways while not realizing that their self-absorbed discussions about themselves fail to respect their own Creator and come to all the wrong sorts of conclusions about what it is that creativity is really about and what is it that we are trying to do as creators. All too often people want to proclaim the nonsense that they view as their own truth without recognizing that most genuine and worthwhile creations are like pearls that result from the irritation and agitation of existence within us from which our insights and art is produced. It is not so much that the insight is inside of us as much as it is that we gain insight through wrestling with reality and coming to grips with the life and times that we have been given.
This book is about 300 pages long and is divided into four parts with unnumbered chapters. The author begins with an exploration about the river of light and the life of expression that he believes he has lived. After that the book begins with the author's view of basic human truths (I), including the question of why we write (1), explores the gift of vision (2), demonstrates his confidence in the art of perception (3), and discusses our heart as a tuning fork that inspires us to an inner experience of truth (4). After that the author explores how we are shaped by life (II), through unraveling the self (5), bearing witness of our truths (6), and looking at our instrument and its gifts (7). After that the author posits his own view of depth (III), in breaking the surface (8), giving and receiving attention (9), and understanding the value of practice (10). Finally, the author discusses the importance of becoming at one with existence (IV) through understanding the magic of liberty (11) and swimming in the timeless river (12) of life, after which there are acknowledgements (the author calls them gratitudes), notes, permissions, and information about the author.
This book contains within it a great deal of writing that the author has viewed as insightful and important and a lot of the author's own personal thoughts. To the extent that the author is someone that one would want to know more personally concerning how they view creativity, this book is not a total waste. To be sure, the author's religious perspective, with its New Age Buddhism mixed with a sense of Jewish mysticism, is by no means congenial to my own, and thus I am less likely to enjoy this book than many other readers will be. To the extent that the author views his writing as personal opinions based on his own incorrect worldview, this is certainly not the worst book I have read about creativity, or even in the bottom 5 (the field really is that bad), but it is not a book I can recommend. Just about everything in this book is either the author's opinion, which isn't worth much to me, or is rubbish spouted from the author's misguided and mistaken belief system which is impossible to reconcile with reality. This is the sort of book that seeks to flatter the reader, and as a result does not provide the insight that a better book would.
This book is about 300 pages long and is divided into four parts with unnumbered chapters. The author begins with an exploration about the river of light and the life of expression that he believes he has lived. After that the book begins with the author's view of basic human truths (I), including the question of why we write (1), explores the gift of vision (2), demonstrates his confidence in the art of perception (3), and discusses our heart as a tuning fork that inspires us to an inner experience of truth (4). After that the author explores how we are shaped by life (II), through unraveling the self (5), bearing witness of our truths (6), and looking at our instrument and its gifts (7). After that the author posits his own view of depth (III), in breaking the surface (8), giving and receiving attention (9), and understanding the value of practice (10). Finally, the author discusses the importance of becoming at one with existence (IV) through understanding the magic of liberty (11) and swimming in the timeless river (12) of life, after which there are acknowledgements (the author calls them gratitudes), notes, permissions, and information about the author.
This book contains within it a great deal of writing that the author has viewed as insightful and important and a lot of the author's own personal thoughts. To the extent that the author is someone that one would want to know more personally concerning how they view creativity, this book is not a total waste. To be sure, the author's religious perspective, with its New Age Buddhism mixed with a sense of Jewish mysticism, is by no means congenial to my own, and thus I am less likely to enjoy this book than many other readers will be. To the extent that the author views his writing as personal opinions based on his own incorrect worldview, this is certainly not the worst book I have read about creativity, or even in the bottom 5 (the field really is that bad), but it is not a book I can recommend. Just about everything in this book is either the author's opinion, which isn't worth much to me, or is rubbish spouted from the author's misguided and mistaken belief system which is impossible to reconcile with reality. This is the sort of book that seeks to flatter the reader, and as a result does not provide the insight that a better book would.
June 22, 2019
I am deeply honored to review this book by one of my favorite teachers and authors. In his newest book, Mark offers us, as in all his other books, language that is rich with visual imagery and metaphor… And much wisdom. His focus is on creative expression, whether that expression takes the form of writing, music, art… Etc. And the biggest thing I received from this book, as a writer and artist myself, is the encouragement to be open to Spirit and the inspiration that comes from that which is bigger than us and outside of us. This is something that I need reminders of quite often and I found diving into this book that I was given much more than a simple reminder.
This is not a book to read all in one sitting… It is too full, too rich, too deep, and there is much to ponder. I especially like Mark’s writings because he includes thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter and section to help the reader integrate the learning into one’s own life.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This is not a book to read all in one sitting… It is too full, too rich, too deep, and there is much to ponder. I especially like Mark’s writings because he includes thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter and section to help the reader integrate the learning into one’s own life.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
November 21, 2020
I was drawn to this book after visiting Italy and witnessing so many beautiful pieces of art. I am NO artist but i have always admired the power of art.
“Meaningful art, enduring art―and the transformative process it awakens―keeps us alive,” writes Mark Nepo. He's a poet and philosopher that 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.”
“Meaningful art, enduring art―and the transformative process it awakens―keeps us alive,” writes Mark Nepo. He's a poet and philosopher that 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.”
June 17, 2022
Ugh. I was so looking forward to this book. Sign me up for philosophy and creativity, art and writing, poetry and self-expression! Those are all things I love and care deeply about. Unfortunately, Nepo's writing style made my eyes glaze over, and I had difficulty focusing on what he was trying to say. I also struggled to discern the meaning of many of his essays, which seemed to meander all over the place.
I was also struck by how self-absorbed Nepo came across in many essays. As though his method of processing creativity is -- or should be -- valid for everyone else. Many of his points are also repetitive and vague, lacking in any kind of applicable takeaways that a reader could then bring to their own studios. I'm clearly in the minority here since most of the reviews for this book are glowing, but I'm glad to be done with it!
I was also struck by how self-absorbed Nepo came across in many essays. As though his method of processing creativity is -- or should be -- valid for everyone else. Many of his points are also repetitive and vague, lacking in any kind of applicable takeaways that a reader could then bring to their own studios. I'm clearly in the minority here since most of the reviews for this book are glowing, but I'm glad to be done with it!
May 26, 2021
Great book to journal with. This book will help you find the way. I didn't read it front to back. I used the contents to decide what I wanted to read, theme based on my mood and interest at the time.
So I'm "in progress" with this one and I've had it for about 6 months. It's a resource and I keep it close.
So I'm "in progress" with this one and I've had it for about 6 months. It's a resource and I keep it close.
January 22, 2022
Mark Nepo is one of those poets/writers whose work I have always connected with, and this book of essays and poems about creativity and making and seeing and connecting is inspirational and a quiet joy. After each short chapter is a journal or conversational prompt. I had some absolutely top-notch discussions with a wide range of humans about these topics, and learned some things about my close friends that I hadn’t known.
February 1, 2025
Let me preface by saying I adore Mark Nepo. I attended a webinar with him last year that further solidified this. However, this book was hard for me to finish. It almost felt like he was watching himself watching himself watching himself (I wrote that three times on purpose). There were some highlights but I mostly finished it to tick the box.
April 27, 2025
If I was informed that, as of today, I could only read one book for the rest of my life, this would be it.
Mark Nepo is my newest soul friend. I love that his last name is simply OPEN in reverse for he helps us open to the beauty of the world, to the magic of the soul, and to the mystery of life. What a gift. 💝
Mark Nepo is my newest soul friend. I love that his last name is simply OPEN in reverse for he helps us open to the beauty of the world, to the magic of the soul, and to the mystery of life. What a gift. 💝
January 22, 2023
Will Refer This Book Forever
I feel so connected with this book. I’ve highlighted almost the entire thing and am going to read it again soon. It’s feels important to me, like it’s my guide for living. That’s how I’m going to treat it.
I feel so connected with this book. I’ve highlighted almost the entire thing and am going to read it again soon. It’s feels important to me, like it’s my guide for living. That’s how I’m going to treat it.
November 17, 2023
This is a good spiritual self help book for artists - if you’re into that sort of thing, which I am not. Objectively, the author’s writing was beautiful, if not tranquilizing. I personally think it’s cheap to publish works thick with journal prompts and follow-the-light-from-withins.
October 30, 2019
This looked interesting at the start, but I got bored with it about halfway through because it was often repetitive and vague. I just couldn’t really connect with it.
November 18, 2019
What a beautiful book filled with aphorisms. It was a great book to take in little morsel by little morsel... One of Mark Nepo's best works and a culmination of all of his wisdom and experience!!!
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May 19, 2020This book made me connect with my spiritual side. It was a great read.
August 8, 2020
A book on poem to feel and drink slowly. Where is your life of expression?
January 12, 2021
great for all artists
January 16, 2021
There’s a lot of wisdom in these pages. I journaled the first half along with the prompts. Lots of opportunities for growth.
April 28, 2021
Lovely useful writing prompts. Read one a day. Wrote but didn’t talk to anyone like he instructed readers to. Some were better than others.
September 2, 2021
Deeply poetic ruminations on the creative life. I enjoyed his many beautiful insights (and the writing exercises were very original!)
April 11, 2022
Lots of tidbits in this one. I have read so many of Nepo's books. this is in the vein of all the others - with insights about how to live an authentic life.
August 2, 2023
2019. Actually I didn't finish it. Found it boring and it seemed like the author was a bit too fond of himself for my taste.
August 14, 2023
Mark Nepo is one of my all time favorites. I have enjoyed everything of his I have read!
July 24, 2024
one of the best books i’ve ever read in my life
August 7, 2021
Beautiful writing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews