Jaouad reflects on the summers of her childhood which were spent traveling with her family. Only being allowed to pack a single backpack meant that what she packed were the things she truly deemed essential. In this context, she remembers the bag she packed when she was preparing for a hospital stay for cancer treatment. Along with the basics such as clothes and toiletries, she packed things meant to spark creativity—novels, notebooks, art supplies—which she deems as the most important of the things she packed.

With her supplies stored in a diaper caddy by her bedside, Jaouad found herself reaching for them often; however, instead of journaling, she found herself painting. During that stint she painted an entire series of surrealistic, “pseudo-self-portraits” (256), which served as a visual diary of her time there. Jaouad recounts other artists she has known who have done the same during a time of illness. She reflects on the word and process of “alchemy,” and how humans’ tendency to constantly make meaning of their experiences translates into their ability to “alchemize” experiences of grief and struggle. Jaouad invites the readers to tap into their own creative impulses and experience alchemy through the essays and prompts that follow.

“Across the Gulf of Spacetime” by John Binkley

John Binkley writes a letter to his late wife, traversing the distance of “spacetime” to keep his wife alive. He professes his determination to overcome whatever obstacles stand in their way of continuing the teamwork they shared when she was alive, through these letters. He asks his wife to be patient with him as he learns how to do this. The prompt invites the reader to write a letter to someone who is no longer with them.

“The Enchanted” by Rene Denfeld

Rene Denfeld describes how she wrote her first book, The Enchanted, after being struck by the thought that a prison she was working at was an “enchanted place.” Writing her first book changed her life, opening up new opportunities and experiences. Even now, in moments of despair, Denfeld reminds herself of the “enchantment,” and it keeps her going. She asks the reader to reflect on the enchantment in their own lives.

“Writing as Exorcism” by Puloma Ghosh

Puloma Ghosh describes how writing has always been a way for her to release the thoughts that obsess or haunt her. She invites reader to write about what has been haunting them for as long as it takes to “exorcize” it.

“Something They Can’t Do Alone” by Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi describes how, after losing the use of his arms and legs following an accident, he has been writing a book with the help of his son. The process is a pleasurable one as they write, discuss, edit, and reshape the manuscript together. Noting that music and cinema arise out of “creative alliances,” he invites the reader to reflect on someone in their life who functions as a collaborator and allows them to do things they cannot do alone.

“A Sundering” by Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie reflects on how one’s perception of the world can be shattered with the arrival of a sudden disaster, forcing one to rearrange the pieces and reconstruct one’s understanding of it. He quotes Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl as examples in literature that showcase this, and references his own experience with a knife attack that forced him to reshape his worldview. He invites the reader to reflect on a similar event from their own lives, writing it as fiction.

“Greyhounds” by Crow Jonah Norlander

Crow Jonah Norlander describes the humorous fallout from when he told a lie for fun about his greyhounds that he was out walking, claiming that he was using them as racers in a black-market betting operation—it resulted in a home visit and observation from PETA. He invites the reader to reflect on a time when they were similarly reluctant to tell the truth and the imagined fallout from if they had lied instead.

“Breakthrough in Despair” by Cleyvis Natera

Cleyvis Natera recounts how she experienced a creative breakthrough in the middle of a desperate set of circumstances. She had cast aside a book she was working on when it became increasingly complicated to complete. However, not long after, she experienced the stress, anxiety, and medical complications of having a child born with sickle cell anemia, who later underwent a bone marrow transplant from his younger sibling, and then needed emergency medical care for appendicitis while recovering from the transplant surgery. 

In the dissociative state she experienced while overwhelmed with the situation around her, Natera found herself returning to and eventually completing the book, armed with new insights on love and suffering. She invites the reader to write about a similar breakthrough they might have experienced in the middle of despair.

“On Anti-Blessings” by Kate Bowler

Kate Bowler reflects on the use of language for moments that seem magical or divine, noting how the term “blessing” can refer to “that strange mix of awful and lovely experiences in our lives” (276). She invites the reader to reflect on a time when they felt especially unlucky, but noticed something beautiful within it nevertheless.

“The Sacred Center” by Jasper Young Bear

Jasper Young Bear reflects on how the story of creation is told within his tradition, a retelling and a ceremony that leads to an understanding that one’s sense of self is expansive enough to encompass everything around them. He asks the reader to imagine themselves at the center of the universe and tethered to everything around them and reflect on what would be their prayer, and what they would change.

“Gestures From the Soul” by Behida Dolić

Behida Dolić reflects on how in the year after her son passed away, the hardest year of her life, she began to make little pieces of art that no one else would see. It was her way of collecting together all the little pieces of her soul that had been shredded by grief. She invites the reader to create a tiny, impermanent piece of art that would similarly connect them to happiness and make them feel free.