the road is full of surprises

Hi! Today’s letter includes:

• A note about travel and poetry

• A poem

• reminder of the 4 Livestreams starting tomorrow for monthly and annual subscribers (join me!)

Poetry can be many things. Memoir. Fantasy. Divine strokes. Poems offer a place for us to explore truth, hallucinations, and visions. They’re where mundane details can turn a corner into something beyond.

It’s a lot like traveling — without luggage or long lines.

Next Sunday, I set out for a fresh adventure. Two weeks on a ship that lands in Portugal, then I’ll spend 3–12 days on the Camino de Santiago between Porto and Santiago de Compostela. After that, I’ll visit a friend at his mountain hermitage in northern Spain. And I’ll be recording readings for This Wild Arising in various places along the way.

Whatever I take will be in my backpack or on my body for the duration, so I’m packing light (less than 15 pounds).

Should I bring a ukulele or a kalimba? One is definitely coming with!

The poem I share with you now explores a certain restlessness I experienced during the road trip and octave shift~rebirth process that catalyzed this poetry collection.

This Wild Arising will be available in paperback and hardcover in June 2026. The ebook may show up before then!

Listen to today’s poem here:

the road
       Towering Tennessee trees fade green
       into twisted bark and cracking dirt
       as I move along I-40 heading west.
       Cross into Arkansas, splashes of aubergine and
       flamed-out orange keep me
                                             looking.
    Drive on, drive on, road keeps shouting,
    drive on through dry places where life got up
    and left.
Be the water,
   become the water,
           pressure of the soul’s request
     Two days later, a thousand miles or more,
     beige and muted reds in all directions,
     wheat-colored tumbleweeds rollick across
     a narrow New Mexico highway.
                 Double-banded rainbow
     arcs over the filmy horizon
     to tell me
          the miracle is
                         here.

I’m LIVESTREAMING four different sessions this week, starting on Saturday, 4/4.

I’d love to share this space with you. These are included for all monthly and annual subscribers.

Join us for as many as you like. And yes, you can drop in for the whole session or part of it. That’s the beauty of a livestream. Can’t join us live? The replays will be available for members!

If you haven’t attended a livestream before, here’s how it works. I’ll be on-screen or audio-only, and you can ask questions and comment in the chat.

Relax as I guide you into experiences of natural, intuitive, effortless writing and contemplation through natural, intuitive, effortless being.

Saturday 4/4/26 The Magic of Intuitive Writing — 10 AM Central Time (up to 2 hours) Read the book here on Sustack.

Tuesday 4/7/26 The Calm Way Transformational Journaling— 6 PM Central Time (1-hour)

Thursday 4/9/26 Writing Practice Session— 10 AM Central Time (1-hour)

Saturday 4/11/26 Intuitive Poetry and Art Workshop — 10 AM Central Time (up to 2 hours depending on participants and how engaged everyone is!)

Testimonial from a student:

So I didn’t know much about automatic writing going into this. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what it meant. I tend to struggle with stuff I can’t quite wrap my head around, and this definitely landed in that category. But Andrea has this calm, grounded way of meeting you right where you are—whether you’re new, confused, curious, or all three.

She’s not just teaching a class—she’s holding a space. And somehow, even when I was rambling or trying to figure out what I was doing, she heard the real question underneath. The way she broke things down, the way she listened, the way she offered reflections—it all felt personal, but never pushy. It was structured but still had breathing room. The invitations, the journaling prompts, the homework, even her closing thoughts—they all hit the mark.

What this class gave me, though—and this is the part I didn’t expect—is a way to journal that feels alive. It taught me how to set an intention, how to make an invitation, and how to create enough space for my thoughts to actually show up and get onto the page.

Standing in the field of love’s creative potentiality,

Andrea Mai ~ Dao Wei