Writing the Heart: A guided journaling prompt based on David Whyte's "The Well," Part 1

One of the great privileges of my life is sitting with people as they write their way into a deeper relationship with themselves.

For the past year, I’ve been running a group called Writing the Heart. Twice a week on Zoom, we get together. We slow down. And we write. (I also teach an in-person version in a park here in Boulder, Colorado.)

We don’t write to perfection. We don’t write to make it sound fancy. We write to figure out what’s going on inside ourselves. We write to connect more deeply with our hearts and souls.

Through teaching these classes, I can see how wisdom truly arises in us. It doesn’t come from thinking harder about things. The surest way to connect with your deepest wisdom is to get the pen moving.

Today I’m bringing a piece of this Writing the Heart class to Substack.

Every Monday and Thursday, paid subscribers will get a short Writing the Heart video like the one I’m offering you today:

The Reading: Most days, we’ll dive into a passage from a memoir I love, though occasionally I’ll grab a passage from a poem, essay, or sacred text.

I’ll read it out loud. I believe words land harder when you hear them.

The Prompts: I’ll give you three simple lines from the text. Think of them like doors that open toyour heart and soul.

You don't need to be a writer. You don’t need to call yourself a writer. You definitely don’t need to have published anything. All you need is a notebook, 20 minutes, and the desire to open to your deeper self.

I’m sharing today’s video with everyone so you can try it out.

While we'll mostly focus on memoir passages going forward, I wanted to launch this off with one of my all-time favorite poems: "The Well" by David Whyte. It's a piece I've come back to for years.

Make a cup of tea, find a quiet spot, hit play on the video below, and see where your pen takes you.