The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life

Jaouad remembers a time in her life when she was feeling particularly “unmoored” and facing a number of decisions. She turned to her friend, Hollye, who suggested that Jaouad journal about what a day in her dream life might look like. In doing so, Jaouad found herself repeatedly describing in great detail the kind of home she would be living in, especially since she spent so much of her early life moving around. Around the time she started doing Hollye’s journaling prompt, Jaouad also started browsing real estate websites and visiting properties, and after months of searching, actually came across a little farmhouse that matched her visualization of home almost perfectly.

Jaouad immediately bought the house and she and her partner, Jon, moved in soon after, setting about refurbishing the place. After a year of nesting, however, she learned that the cancer was back. As traumatizing and heartbreaking as it was to pack up and move out of her dream house, Jaouad reflects on how she didn’t feel rudderless this time around, because journaling about her dream life had also given her clarity about the things she really needed. Additionally, she had learned to inhabit the “in-between” with more comfort, through the practice of constantly having to rebuild. 

Jaouad acknowledges that rebuilding is a hard and exhausting process, but notes that it also takes place alongside evolution and growth. She hopes the following essays and prompts will bring the reader to the same clarity and awareness as she has found in the process of rebuilding.

“Day in the Life of My Dreams” by Hollye Jacobs

Hollye Jacobs describes how her daily journaling practice, in which she writes about a day in the life of her dreams, helps her vanquish the “stuckness” she can sometimes feel when she is feeling confused and rudderless about her life. She invites the reader to try the same practice.

“What I Learned From the Astronauts” by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers reflects on the phenomenon in which astronauts up in space have a shift in perception over time where they come to regard the entire earth as their home, rather than just their specific cities or countries. Jeffers reflects on how he experienced a similar shift about his Irish identity and his country’s fraught political history after moving away from it, to the United States. Jeffers thinks about how so many teenagers in Ireland have inherited the hate they feel from a story passed on to them, and asks the reader to reflect on a similarly inherited story that needs changing in their own life.

“I Packed For Shit That Day” by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Nadia Bolz-Weber recalls the time when her sister called her with news that her nephew had been killed. In a state of grief, Bolz-Weber, usually an expert packer, recalls that she “packed for shit that day” (181). She reminds the reader that during a time of grief, one’s mind needs time away from its usual functioning, and to give it that reprieve. She asks the reader to write about being gentle with oneself in grief.

“Cities, Summer Forests” by Ashleigh Bell Pedersen

Ashleigh Bell Pedersen describes how, in her 37th year, she had made a New Year’s Resolution to host more parties in the coming year. However, that year was 2020, and between the pandemic and her own new diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the following three years passed in a blur. While feeling despondent about the lost time as she approached her 40th birthday, she chanced upon John Gilbert’s poem about navigating the “midpassage” at 40, with still more to discover. Feeling a kinship with the poem, she asks the reader as well to reflect on what “cities and summer forests” (184) are they looking forward to in life.

“Twelve Minutes” by Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park recalls attempting the pomodoro method of working for 25-minute chunks of time at a phase when she was feeling especially stuck in her writing. She found it difficult to manage 25 minutes, but as she kept whittling down the time, she found that she could, in fact, be productive for just 12. She has carried this practice in her life for years now and has introduced it to many others, too, inviting the reader to try so now for themselves.

“Survival Skills” by Quintin Jones

From his execution watch cell on Texas death row, Quintin Jones reflects on the hard life he has led, over half of it incarcerated, and what has led him to this point. He notes that one must change what one can and accept the rest, and asks the reader to reflect on their own inner strength and survival skills.

“The Risk of Blossoming” by Paulina Pinsky

Paulina Pinsky recollects the time when, during an explosive argument with an ex-partner, she truly realized that she was in a volatile relationship. She has since gotten sober, broken away from that past relationship, and is more attuned to the fact that something familiar may be comforting, but may also be destructive. She asks the reader to reflect on something that is uncomfortable for them.

“This Is Me” by Rebecca Rebouché

Rebecca Rebouché describes a series of video diaries she recorded some years ago while on a solo trip through the Iberian Peninsula. In the present, having gone through a recent breakup that hangs around her like a cloud, she cherishes the videos which remind her of the thrilling feeling of emerging from one. She encourages the reader to write about an experience that feels all-encompassing and disorienting, like being surrounded by a cloud.

“Not There, But Here” by Mariah Z. Leach

Mariah Z. Leach describes losing her family home to the Marshal Fire in Boulder, Colorado, in December 2021. Despite the horrifying experience, she discovered she already possessed the resilience to come out the other side of this tragedy, as she had been living with rheumatoid arthritis for years, having been diagnosed with it at a young age. She had been waiting to write about that journey of resilience once it found a conclusion, but her experience with the fire taught her that not all journeys have a conclusion. She invites the reader to write about a similarly unfinished journey in their life.

“To Live Well” by Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib recalls the virtual pen-pal group he started during the pandemic. One of the first questions he asked on the Zoom call was what was the one thing each person needed to live well that day; the answers were varied but simple, ranging across a bowl of fruit, a phone call from a loved one, and an animal to pet. He invites the reader to reflect on their one thing needed to live well that day.