The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis Podcast

Episode Title: Remembering Our Descendants: A Midweek Pause for Peace with Laura Weaver Episode Description: In this week's Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares "Remembering Our Descendants" by poet Laura Weaver. Laura pairs the poem with calming imagery in her signature style, inviting listeners into a moment of reflection on aging, transformation, and legacy. This episode offers a tender pause for anyone contemplating what it means to enter a new stage of life.What Laura Covers in This Episode:·       Laura introduces poet Laura Weaver and shares the origins of "Remembering Our Descendants"·       Laura reflects on the shift in identity and self-perception that comes with entering a new stage of life·       Laura explores themes of legacy, mortality, and what we offer to those who come after us·       Laura offers listeners a grounded, imagery-paired pause for the heart and nervous systemAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured PoetLaura Weaver is a poet, writer, and facilitator with over three decades of experience in leadership, education, and rites-of-passage work. She is the author of two poetry collections, "Luminous" (2018) and "River of Awe," as well as a book for educators, "The Five Dimensions of Engaged Teaching" (2013). Weaver previously directed the PassageWorks Institute and served as lead facilitator for the American Leadership Forum. She holds degrees from Trinity College and the University of Colorado at Boulder. "Remembering Our Descendants" first appeared on Weaver's SoulPassages blog in October 2014.Learn more about Laura Weaver and her work at: https://lauraweaver.orgCONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

You're Invited on a Virtual Vacation to Bali:Ready for a free virtual vacation to Bali? Join Laura Davis as she invites you along on her 10th sacred journey to this spiritual island. Experience temple ceremonies, meet traditional healers, and immerse in Balinese culture through her Substack posts and Notes. It's the next best thing to being there!Plus: discover her handpicked July Substack recommendations as a bonus.Laura's Five Substack Recommendations for JulyThe Feral Stack by Summer Koester: Cultural commentary for curious misfits @summerisferal, The Feral StackForager Field Notes by Michelle Dowd: Healing through creativity for cult survivors@mdowd, Forager Field NotesEveryday Ambassador by Annelise Riles: Global change through local action @Anneliseriles, Everyday AmbassadorFor the Love of Nature by Sue Kusch: Essays on place and natural connection @SueKusch. For the Love of NatureThe American Pamphleteer: Truth-telling for rebels and resistersExclusive Writing Workshop Opportunities @ladylibertie1, The American PamphleteerUpcoming Memoir Workshops with LauraIn-Person Intensive Workshop:Title: "The Art of Memoir: Crafting Compelling, Vivid, True Life Stories"Location: Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, CaliforniaDates: November 3-7, 2025 (5-day retreat)What You'll Learn: Inner voice connection, healing through language, "story beneath the story" techniquesRegistration Link: https://lauradavis.net/memoir-retreat-santa-cruz-november-2025More Info: https://lauradavis.net/workshopsOnline Masterclass:Title: "How to Write About What You Can't Remember"Format: 5-week interactive Zoom course with private Substack classroomSchedule: Tuesdays, September 30 - October 28, 2025Time: 12:00-2:30 PM ET / 9:00-11:30 AM PTUnique Feature: Community feedback system via private SubstackRegistration Link: https://lauradavis.net/online-memoir-course-fall-2025Course Details: https://lauradavis.net/memory-memoir-workshopYou can find information about Laura’s writing classes, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ Subscribe to The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis on Substack to receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems, essays, and photographs to build courage, resilience and creativity.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: A Meditation: A Midweek Pause for Peace with Ursula K. Le GuinEpisode Description:In this week's Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares "A Meditation," a poem by legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin. Laura pairs the poem with soothing imagery in her signature style, offering listeners a brief but powerful pause for reflection. Originally written during a turbulent political moment, this piece speaks to the quiet, persistent forces that shape lasting change.What Laura Covers in This Episode:·       Laura introduces Ursula K. Le Guin's "A Meditation" and the context in which it was originally written and shared·       Laura reflects on how natural imagery can hold space for difficult emotions during uncertain times·       Laura explores the poem's meditation on patience and the slow, steady forces that create transformation·       Laura offers listeners a moment of grounded reflection paired with peaceful imagery for the nervous systemAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured PoetUrsula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was a celebrated American author whose body of work spans twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children's books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. Born in Berkeley, California, she was the daughter of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, and went on to marry historian Charles A. Le Guin, with whom she raised three children in Portland, Oregon. She is best known for reshaping science fiction and fantasy into literary works of lasting depth, particularly through her Earthsea series and "The Left Hand of Darkness," which broke new ground in its exploration of gender. Her influence extended widely across the literary world, shaping writers such as Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, and David Mitchell. Among her many honors were a National Book Award, seven Hugo Awards, six Nebula Awards, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Le Guin passed away in 2018, leaving behind a body of work celebrated for its imagination, moral clarity, and enduring relevance.Learn more about Ursula K. Le Guin and her work at: https://www.ursulakleguin.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Thanks: A Midweek Pause for Peace with W.S. MerwinEpisode Description:In this week's Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares "Thanks" by acclaimed poet and former U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin. Laura pairs the poem with soothing imagery in her signature style, offering listeners a moment of reflection on gratitude as a steady practice, even amid loss and uncertainty. This episode invites listeners to pause and consider thankfulness as a form of resilience.What Laura Covers in This Episode:·       Laura introduces W.S. Merwin and the poem "Thanks," including its origins and publication history·       Laura reflects on gratitude as a survival skill that persists through hardship and grief·       Laura explores how the poem's rhythm and repetition mirror the instinct to give thanks even in dark moments·       Laura offers listeners a grounded, imagery-paired pause for the heart and nervous systemAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured PoetW.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was a major American poet whose body of work spans more than fifty books of poetry, prose, and translation across five decades. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, for "The Carrier of Ladders" (1971) and "The Shadow of Sirius" (2009), and served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2010 to 2011. His work evolved from early formal verse to spare, unpunctuated free verse shaped by his anti-war convictions, later turning toward themes of ecology and Buddhism after he settled on Maui, where he restored a former pineapple plantation into a palm forest. "Thanks" appears in "Migration: New & Selected Poems" (Copper Canyon Press, 2005).CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast Show Notes Episode TitleSo Much for Traveling Light: A Love Letter to the Suitcase I Swore I'd Leave BehindEpisode DescriptionIn this episode, Laura Davis takes listeners inside her lifelong—and losing—battle with packing light. As she prepares for another Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, Laura shares the packing philosophy she's built over decades of travel, the unexpected lesson she learned from a fellow traveler in Peru, and why, at 70, her relationship with "stuff" has become more complicated than ever.What Laura Covers in This EpisodeThe nickname a friend gave her decades ago that still fits perfectlyA memorable lesson in minimalist travel learned from a poet on a trip to Machu PicchuThe daily routine she adopted from that encounter and still uses todayHer evolving gear obsessions, including a beloved travel tool she can't stop recommendingThe contrast between her packing style and her wife Karyn's minimalist approachHow her packing list has shifted across three CaminosThe new category of items that has changed her packing calculus in her seventiesHer honest reckoning with whether "packing light" will ever be more than an aspirationEpisode HighlightsLaura describes the moment she earned the nickname "the queen of abundance"The story of a fellow traveler in Peru whose tiny suitcase changed how Laura thinks about packingA behind-the-scenes look at the handwashing method Laura adopted and still practicesLaura's love affair with a compact travel gadget she insists isn't a paid endorsementA candid comparison between Laura's packing instincts and her wife's minimalismThe evolution of Laura's Camino footwear choices across multiple pilgrimagesLaura's honest reflection on a new category of travel necessities that's emerged with ageLaura's ultimate surrender to—and acceptance of—the traveler she really isAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping people tell their true stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the BookLife Prize, and co-author of the bestselling The Courage to Heal. Laura is the founder of The Writer's Journey LLC, offering online writing classes, workshops, and international retreats for writers of all genres—not just memoir. She is the host of The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, where she blends personal storytelling with practical writing instruction for a global community of readers and writers.Resources Laura MentionsThe Writer's Journey Substack — Laura's newsletter and podcast homeLaura Davis's website — classes, books, workshops, and retreatsThe Art of Memoir: Crafting Compelling, Vivid, True Life Stories – Baja, Mexico Retreat (May 14–22, 2027) — Laura's upcoming international memoir retreat in La Ventana, BajaThe Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's award-winning memoirThe Courage to Heal — Laura's co-authored bestsellerWhat’s on my Bedside TableKey Takeaways from This EpisodeThe packing habits we develop often say as much about our values as our itineraries.Learning from a fellow traveler's system can transform a habit you thought was fixed.Simple daily rituals—like a handwashing routine—can become meditative rather than tedious.Growing older on the road means renegotiating what "essential" really means.Self-acceptance, even about something as small as a suitcase, is its own kind of freedom.Episode Call-to-ActionListeners preparing for their own travels—or simply curious about Laura's approach to life on the road—are invited to subscribe to The Writer's Journey for more personal essays and reflections, and to consider joining Laura on an upcoming retreat, including her memoir retreat in Baja, Mexico this coming May.Connect with Laura DavisSubscribe to The Writer's Journey Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Explore classes, books, and retreats: https://lauradavis.net/Leave a comment or share this episode to help new readers discover The Writer's JourneyThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Made Anew: A Midweek Pause for Peace with Danna Faulds Episode Description:In this week's Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares "Made Anew" by poet Danna Faulds. Laura pairs the poem with peaceful imagery in her signature style, inviting listeners to sit with the discomfort of a changing world while staying open to grace within it. This episode offers a moment of grounding for anyone feeling unsettled by uncertainty and loss.What Laura Covers in This Episode:·       Laura introduces poet Danna Faulds and reflects on why her poetry resonates so deeply·       Laura explores the poem's call to meet chaos and upheaval with openness rather than despair·       Laura reflects on grief and suffering as sacred parts of a larger, unfolding whole·       Laura offers listeners a grounded, imagery-paired pause for the heart and nervous systemAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured PoetA long-term practitioner of Kripalu Yoga, Danna Faulds is the author of seven books of poetry: "Go In and In," "One Soul," "Prayers to the Infinite," "From Root to Bloom," "Breath of Joy," and "What's True Here," as well as the memoir "Into the Heart of Yoga."Learn more about Danna Faulds and her work at: https://dannafaulds.comCONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast Show Notes To comment on this post on Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/a60c6926-4832-4ba7-b2a8-8bd552d92e03Episode Title:Laura Davis on Aging, Memory Loss, and the Fear She's Carried for DecadesEpisode Description:As she approached her 70th birthday, Laura Davis found herself facing a fear she'd carried for the last twenty years. In this episode, the acclaimed author and writing teacher shares the personal essay she wrote in response, a piece that took her to some of the most vulnerable places she's ever gone on the page. Laura reflects on where the writing came from, what it cost her to share it, and why she ultimately decided to publish it now.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The family legacy she's spent decades afraid of repeatingThe writing prompt from her friend and colleague Nancy London that cracked the piece openHer process of writing into fear late at night and early in the morningWhat happened the first time she read the essay aloudWhy she set the finished piece aside for a month before publishing itThe connection between this essay and her memoir, The Burning Light of Two StarsHer invitation to readers and listeners to share their own fears around aging and memoryEpisode Highlights:The origin story behind the prompt "Without the brain I am used to" and the friend who gave it to herWhat it felt like to write about her deepest fear without holding backLaura's account of reading the piece aloud for the first time — and how that experience changed on the second readingWhy she let the essay "lay fallow" in a folder before deciding to share itThe unexpected response to an earlier essay that inspired her to publish this oneHow editing the piece changed her relationship to the fear itselfLaura's closing reflection, drawn from the Buddhist Five Remembrances, on impermanence and what truly mattersAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers tell their truest stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking bestseller The Courage to Heal. Laura is the founder of The Writer's Journey LLC, where she teaches the full spectrum of the writing craft — not memoir alone — through online classes, workshops, and international retreats. She hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, where she writes candidly about the writing life, aging, and the courage it takes to put difficult truths on the page.Resources Laura Mentions:The Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's BookLife Prize–winning memoirThe Ripening by Nancy London — the friend and colleague who offered Laura the writing prompt behind this essayStill Alice by Lisa Genova — the novel Laura references in reflecting on memory, identity, and choiceThe Writer's Journey Substack — home to Laura's essays, poetry, and reflections on writingLaura's writing classes, workshops, and retreatsKey Takeaways from This Episode:A single, well-chosen writing prompt can unlock material that's been buried for decades.Writing into a fear — rather than around it — can loosen its grip, even before anything is resolved.Reading a difficult piece aloud, more than once, changes a writer's relationship to their own words.Letting a finished piece "lay fallow" before publishing can offer valuable distance and clarity.Sharing a vulnerable truth publicly can open space for others carrying the same silent fear.Episode Call-to-Action:Listeners are invited to read Laura's full essay on The Writer's Journey Substack and to respond in the comments with their own experiences, fears, or strategies around aging and memory. Writers wrestling with their own difficult material are encouraged to explore Laura's classes and retreats for support in bringing their stories to the page.Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Website, classes, and retreats: https://lauradavis.net/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: What to Do — featuring a poem by Joyce SutphenEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares a poem that arrived as a personal reminder: that even in a world spinning toward chaos, one thing remains in our hands — what we choose to pay attention to. Joyce Sutphen's "What to Do" is a poem that wanders gently through uncertainty and arrives somewhere luminous. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode offers a midweek breath and an invitation to notice what is still worth seeing.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why this poem landed for Laura as a reminder of what remains within our control, even nowHow Sutphen moves from restlessness and searching toward a single, clarifying moment of attentionThe quiet power of paying attention as an act of resistance, renewal, and soul-keepingAn introduction to Joyce Sutphen — former Poet Laureate of Minnesota and author of more than ten books of poetryAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Joyce Sutphen: Joyce Sutphen grew up on a farm in Minnesota and earned a PhD in Renaissance drama from the University of Minnesota. She is the author of more than ten books of poetry and served as Poet Laureate of Minnesota from 2011 to 2021. Her honors include the Barnard Women's Poets Prize, the Minnesota Book Award, and a McKnight Artist Fellowship. Learn more about her work at: http://www.joycesutphen.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title Join Laura Davis in Baja: A Memoir Retreat on the Sea of CortezEpisode DescriptionLaura Davis invites writers to step away from daily life and into nine transformative days on the shores of Baja, Mexico. In this episode, Laura shares the vision behind The Art of Memoir: Baja — a retreat blending generative writing, craft instruction, and community on the turquoise waters of the Sea of Cortez. Laura discusses what draws writers to this remote stretch of coastline, and what becomes possible when a story finally gets the time and space it deserves.What Laura Covers in This EpisodeThe dream so many writers carry — to tell their story, understand themselves, and leave a legacyWhat makes The Art of Memoir retreat different from a typical writing workshopThe rhythm of retreat days: generative morning sessions followed by structured feedbackWhy "finding the story beneath the story" is central to Laura's teaching approachThe setting: La Ventana, Baja California Sur, and why this particular coastline mattersThe people and details that shape the retreat experience beyond the writing sessionsWhat past participants have said about how the retreat changed their relationship to their storyEpisode HighlightsLaura opens with the question every writer eventually has to answer: what does your story deserve?A look inside the daily structure — writing sessions, free afternoons, and feedback circlesLaura explains the concept of "slowing down where it hurts" and why it matters for memoirA description of La Ventana's transformation from sleepy fishing village to a place of reflectionLaura introduces her co-host for the retreat and the role they'll play throughout the nine daysWhat happens beyond the page — the experiences woven into the week that support the writingFirsthand reflections from writers who've attended past retreats with LauraLaura's closing invitation to writers considering whether this is their momentAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and shape their stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the BookLife Prize in 2021, and co-author of the bestselling The Courage to Heal. Laura leads writing classes, workshops, and international retreats through The Writer's Journey LLC, guiding writers of all levels — not only memoirists — toward more vivid, resonant work. Her retreats are known for the safe, generative container she creates, one that allows writers to access material they didn't know they had access to.Resources Laura MentionsThe Art of Memoir: Baja Retreat — May 14–22, 2027The Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's award-winning memoirThe Courage to Heal — Co-authored by Laura DavisThe Writer's Journey SubstackLaura Davis's website — classes, books, workshops, and retreatsKey Takeaways from This EpisodeGiving your story dedicated time and space can unlock material you didn't know was there.Generative writing practice is one of the most powerful tools for surfacing memory and breaking through blocks.A memoir isn't just a record of events — it's built from scene, summary, and musing woven together.The right setting can be part of the creative process, not just a backdrop to it.A small, intimate group creates the safety writers need to write and share without self-censoring.Episode Call-to-ActionWriters ready to give their story the room it needs are invited to learn more about The Art of Memoir: Baja and reserve their place — space is limited to 14 writers.Connect with Laura DavisWebsite: lauradavis.netSubstack: laurasaridavis.substack.comThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Instructions on Not Giving Up — featuring a poem by Ada LimónEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis brings a poem by Ada Limón — former U.S. Poet Laureate and the first Latina to hold that position — that finds in the natural world an answer to the question we are all quietly asking. "Instructions on Not Giving Up" does not offer easy comfort. It offers something better: the sight of a tree deciding, after everything winter did to it, to leaf out anyway. Paired with peaceful imagery and a writing prompt, this episode is an invitation to find your own instructions.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why Limón's vision of the natural world arriving after winter speaks so directly to this particular momentHow a poem can model resilience without demanding it — offering permission rather than prescriptionThe writing prompt Laura offers alongside this poem: an invitation to write your own instructions on not giving upAn introduction to Ada Limón, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States and National Book Critics Circle Award winnerAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Ada Limón: Ada Limón is an acclaimed American poet and the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, serving from 2022 to 2025 — the first Latina to hold the position. Known for her exploration of the intersection of nature, humanity, and personal emotion, she has published six books of poetry, including The Carrying, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Learn more about her work at adalimon.com: https://adalimon.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Middle Age Feels Endless — Until It Ends: Laura Davis on Turning 70Episode Description:As her 70th birthday approaches, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis pauses to reckon with a passage she didn't expect to feel this deep. Drawing on more than three decades of teaching people to tell the truth about their lives, Laura turns that same unflinching honesty on herself, exploring what it means to step out of the "alpha time" of middle age and into a new, less-charted stretch of life. It's a reflective, personal episode about identity, invisibility, and what gets released when the busier self finally lets go.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The unexpected weight of her upcoming 70th birthday, and why it feels different than she anticipatedA shift she's noticed inside herself — away from "compelled to do" and toward spaciousnessThe grief and uncertainty that come alongside relief when a driven identity starts to loosenWhat it meant to be the "nucleus" of family life for decades, and what changes when that role fadesCultural invisibility and no longer being "the target demographic"A long-running family tradition and what its evolution has taught her about agingWhere her ongoing Camino de Santiago training fits into how she's thinking about time, health, and mortalityEpisode Highlights:Laura names the internal shift she's been feeling: the part of her "compelled to do" losing its holdA friend's line lands hard: "Middle age feels endless — until it ends"Laura describes what it was like to be at the center of her family's orbit for over thirty yearsShe reflects on becoming culturally invisible as younger generations move to center stageA beloved family ritual — the post-Thanksgiving walk to the beach — becomes an unexpected marker of time passingLaura shares where she is physically right now, including a recent ten-mile training hikeShe names the deeper trajectory she's newly aware of, without flinching from itThe episode closes on what gratitude looks like from this new vantage pointAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping people find and tell their true stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the BookLife Prize, and co-author of the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal. Laura runs The Writer's Journey LLC, offering online writing classes, workshops, and international retreats — including her Creative Camino pilgrimage program — and hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, where she writes candidly about the craft of writing and the experience of a life fully lived.Resources Laura Mentions:The Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura DavisLaura Davis's BooksCreative Camino PilgrimageThe Writer's Journey on SubstackLaura Davis's websiteKey Takeaways from This Episode:A major birthday can surface a felt sense of identity change long before the number itself sinks in.Letting go of a "compelled to do" self can bring relief and grief at the same time — both are valid.Long-held family roles evolve, and noticing that shift is part of honoring it.Cultural invisibility is a real and disorienting part of aging — naming it out loud takes some of its power away.Physical vitality, like training for a pilgrimage, can be both a gift and a reminder of life's fragile, finite arc.Episode Call-to-Action:Listeners moved by Laura's reflections are invited to sit with their own relationship to time, identity, and the passages they're moving through — and to consider capturing those reflections in writing. Laura's Substack offers weekly essays and prompts for exactly this kind of exploration.Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Website: https://lauradavis.net/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Small Pleasures — featuring a poem by James CrewsEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares a poem that arrived as a personal reminder: that attention itself is something we still get to choose. James Crews' "Small Pleasures" doesn't ask us to look away from what is hard — it asks us to notice what else is also there. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode is a midweek invitation to lean, even slightly, toward whatever small beauties are within reach.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why this poem landed for Laura as a reminder that directing her attention remains within her controlHow Crews holds darkness and tenderness side by side — without minimizing eitherThe quiet practice at the heart of this poem: learning to gather what is good from the life immediately around usAn introduction to James Crews — editor of beloved bestselling anthologies and author of four prize-winning collections of poetryAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About James Crews: James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR's Morning Edition. James is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry — The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment — and a book of short essays, Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection. He also speaks and leads workshops on kindness, mindfulness, and writing for self-compassion, and lives with his husband on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont. Read his work and subscribe to his poems on Substack: https://jamescrews.substack.com/ and learn more about his books and teaching on his website: https://www.jamescrews.net/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode TitleThe Photo Challenge That Just Kept GoingEpisode DescriptionLaura Davis returns with an update on the daily photo challenge she introduced last winter. What started as a 100-day commitment with a friend has taken on new dimensions, including a second participant and a fresh set of discoveries. Laura reflects on what she found when she looked back at months of daily images, and how the practice has continued to evolve.You can see the photos described in this podcast episode here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/8feb3699-80e5-43d0-8817-92e8f7620e2bWhat Laura Covers in This EpisodeA quick recap of how the original 100-Day Project concept worksAn update on where the challenge stands now, well past the original 100 daysThe simple rules that have kept the practice sustainableHow a friendship and an impromptu photography lesson on a pilgrimage sparked the original ideaThe decision point at day 99 and what came nextWhat Laura discovered when she reviewed her second hundred imagesHow a second friend joined the practice and added her own creative voiceThe role of community, accountability, and small daily commitments in creative lifeEpisode HighlightsLaura revisits the origin of the 100-Day Project and the well-known author's virtual creative hour where she first encountered itThe specific three rules that have kept the challenge sustainable over many monthsA story from the Camino de Santiago involving tortilla de patatas, pimientos de Padrón, and an unplanned photography lessonThe moment on day 99 when Laura asked her friend a simple question, and the answer that kept the project goingWhat Laura discovered when she looked back at her second hundred images and realized what the practice had quietly becomeHow a chance conversation over a game of mahjong led to a second version of the same challenge with a different friendThe way two people photographing the same moment can create an unexpected "conversation"Laura's reflection on what centers a day around "one tiny beautiful thing"About Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping people find their voice through the written word. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the 2021 BookLife Prize, and co-author of the landmark bestseller The Courage to Heal.Laura teaches writing in all its forms through weekly classes, workshops, and retreats around the world, and leads international pilgrimages, including her Creative Camino program on the Camino de Santiago. She is the host of The Writer's Journey podcast and writes a companion Substack publication exploring the craft of writing, creativity, and living a full, examined life.Resources Laura MentionsSuleika Jaouad's Isolation Journals — creative hour sessionsMichael Bierut and the 100-Day Project (Design Observer)The Courage to Heal by Laura Davis and Ellen BassThe Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura DavisLaura's Creative Camino pilgrimage programCommonweal Cancer Help Program, Bolinas, CaliforniaThe Writer's Journey SubstackKey Takeaways from This EpisodeA simple, repeatable creative practice can offer stability and possibility, especially during difficult seasons of lifeAn accountability partner can make the difference between abandoning a creative practice and sustaining itKeeping the rules of a creative challenge minimal makes it far more likely to lastLooking back at a body of daily creative work can reveal patterns and shifts a person didn't consciously notice while living themCreative practices can expand naturally, drawing in new participants and taking on a life of their ownEpisode Call-to-ActionListeners are encouraged to consider starting their own version of a 100-day creative practice, choosing any medium that appeals to them, and reaching out to a friend to join as an accountability partner. Laura invites listeners to subscribe to The Writer's Journey on Substack to follow along with future updates on the ongoing photo challenge and other reflections on creativity and craft.Connect with Laura DavisListeners can follow Laura's writing, classes, retreats, and pilgrimages at lauradavis.net, and subscribe to The Writer's Journey for regular essays, curated poems, and updates on Laura's creative life.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Loving in a Broken Time — featuring a poem by Frederick JosephEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis brings a poem that looks directly at the wreckage of our moment — and finds something glowing in the rubble. Frederick Joseph's "Loving in a Broken Time" neither flinches from the mess nor surrenders to it. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode offers a midweek breath for anyone who needs a reminder that love and hope still have something to say.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why Laura was drawn to this poem's rare ability to hold unflinching honesty and tenderness at the same timeThe thread of hope Joseph weaves through a landscape that doesn't pretend the world is anything other than brokenHow poetry can serve as a nervous system reset — even, and especially, when it names hard truthsAn introduction to Frederick Joseph, a three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose work spans poetry, nonfiction, and young adult fictionAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Frederick Joseph: Frederick Joseph is a three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from Yonkers, New York, whose work spans poetry, nonfiction, children's literature, and young adult fiction. His books include the poetry collection We Alive, Beloved; the bestselling nonfiction titles The Black Friend and Patriarchy Blues; the collaborative volume Better Than We Found It; and the acclaimed YA novel This Thing of Ours. He is the recipient of both the Letter Review Poetry Prize and Essay Prize, and has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and honored with the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Vanguard Award, among many other honors. Visit him at: https://frederickjoseph.com/ and on Substack at https://frederickjoseph.substack.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode TitleThe Work I Am Not at Liberty to Quit: A Writing Prompt That Gets to the Heart of What MattersEpisode DescriptionIn this episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares one of her most powerful and enduring writing prompts—a favorite she's returned to again and again in more than twenty years of teaching. Drawing on a beloved essay-turned-poem as inspiration, Laura invites listeners into a prompt designed to strip away the noise and get straight to the core of what a person is here to do. She reads her own raw, deeply personal response, offering a rare glimpse into her own creative and emotional life.What Laura Covers in This EpisodeThe essay Laura uses as a launching pad for one of her most resonant writing promptsWhy this particular prompt cuts through surface-level answers to reach something truerLaura's own unfiltered response to the prompt, touching on family legacy, marriage, creativity, and presenceHow repetition and rhythm can become a writing tool for emotional excavationThe difference between what we do and what we are not at liberty to quitWhy Laura believes this prompt works for writers at any stage, on any subjectEpisode HighlightsLaura introduces the essay-turned-poem that inspired this week's prompt and explains why it resonates so deeply with writersShe reveals the exact prompt she gives her students: "The work I am not at liberty to quit"Laura reads her own response, beginning with a raw, repeated line about opening her heartShe reflects on inherited anxiety, ancestral legacy, and the pull toward stillnessLaura explores what she's learned about love and marriage from a place of hard-won self-awarenessShe names the habit she considers the "antithesis" of her real work—and why she keeps circling back to itLaura shares a story about a friend's parenting philosophy that changed how she thinks about saying yesThe episode closes with an invitation for listeners to try the prompt themselvesAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers uncover and tell their most essential stories. She has written seven books, including her BookLife Prize-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars, and co-authored the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal. Laura teaches online writing classes, workshops, and international retreats through The Writer's Journey, including her Creative Camino pilgrimage program through Spain. She writes and podcasts weekly at The Writer's Journey, sharing prompts, craft techniques, and reflections on the writing life.Resources Laura Mentions"An Address to My Fellow Faculty Who Have Asked Me to Speak About My Work" by A. Papatya Bucak, published in Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary NonfictionLaura's memoir, The Burning Light of Two StarsThe Writer's Journey Roadmap — Laura's weekly writing promptsThe Writer's Journey Substack and podcastKey Takeaways from This EpisodeA single, well-chosen writing prompt can bypass the surface and lead straight to essential truthRepetition of a phrase or line can be used deliberately to build emotional momentum on the pageNaming what you're "not at liberty to quit" can clarify priorities far more effectively than a goals listWriters can use another writer's work as a springboard without losing their own voiceThe habits that feel most productive—like multitasking—can sometimes be the biggest obstacle to real creative and emotional workEpisode Call-to-ActionListeners are invited to try the prompt for themselves: "The work I am not at liberty to quit." Laura encourages writers to let the phrase repeat, follow it wherever it leads, and share their reflections or an excerpt of their writing in the comments on Substack.Connect with Laura DavisSubscribe to The Writer's Journey on Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's classes, books, workshops, and international retreats: https://lauradavis.net/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Pray for Peace — featuring a poem by Ellen BassEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares a poem by her longtime friend and co-author Ellen Bass — a poet whose work, Laura says simply, sings. "Pray for Peace" is a poem that refuses to keep the sacred confined to temples and kneeling benches. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode offers a midweek reminder that prayer, in its broadest and most human sense, is hiding in plain sight — in every ordinary act of an ordinary day.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why Laura chose this particular poem by her longtime collaborator and friend Ellen Bass, and what makes Bass's voice so distinctiveHow "Pray for Peace" expands the very definition of prayer — and why that expansion matters right nowThe way Bass weaves the mundane and the sacred together until the line between them disappearsAn introduction to Ellen Bass — Guggenheim Fellow, Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets, and one of the most celebrated poets writing todayAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Ellen Bass: Ellen Bass is a poet and teacher who earned her MA in creative writing from Boston University, where she studied with Anne Sexton. Her poetry collections include Mules of Love, The Human Line, Like a Beggar, and Indigo (2020), and her poems appear regularly in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and many other journals. She co-edited the first major anthology of women's poetry, No More Masks!, and her nonfiction books include the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. A Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Bass founded poetry workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and the Santa Cruz, California jails, and teaches in the MFA writing program at Pacific University. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lambda Literary Award, the Pablo Neruda Prize, and four Pushcart Prizes. Visit her at: https://www.ellenbass.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Our Time Will Come: Keep Fighting with JoyEpisode Description: Some words stop you in your tracks. In this episode, Laura Davis shares a passage from J. Drew Lanham — MacArthur Fellow, wildlife biologist, and poet — that has strengthened her again and again. It names the fire, the fuel, and the only rain that matters.What Laura Covers in This Episode:A passage from J. Drew Lanham that Laura returns to when she needs steadyingWhy joy is not escape — it's the backing fireA brief introduction to Lanham and his MacArthur Fellowship-winning workKey Takeaways:Despair is the fuel. Joy is the rain. Write, sing, paint, shout for it.Fireproof your heart — and keep the ember glowing.Our time will come. Fight joyfully until it does.About J. Drew Lanham: Joseph Drew Lanham is an American author, poet, and wildlife biologist awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022. Learn more about his work here.Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.comWebsite & Retreats: lauradavis.netThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more. You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: testify — featuring a poem by Eve L. EwingEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis brings a poem that made her want to walk through her day celebrating beauty — and hopes it does the same for listeners. Eve L. Ewing's "testify" is a poem rooted in the Black church tradition of bearing witness: to grace, to survival, to the unexpected gifts hiding inside an ordinary afternoon. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode is a midweek invitation to notice what is still golden, even now.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why this poem stopped Laura in her tracks and sent her back into her day with fresh eyesThe tradition of testifying — bearing witness to blessing, protection, and survival — and how Ewing brings it alive on the pageHow a single walk home becomes a portal to something larger, and what that means for how we move through the worldAn introduction to Eve L. Ewing, award-winning poet, scholar, and cultural organizer whose work spans poetry, nonfiction, theater, and Marvel ComicsAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Eve L. Ewing: Eve Louise Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer from Chicago, and an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. She is the award-winning author of five books, including the poetry collections Electric Arches (2017) and 1919 (2019) — which was adapted into a hit play by Steppenwolf Theatre — the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side, and her most recent book, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, an instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller. She is also co-author of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks and has written several Marvel Comics series, including Ironheart and Black Panther. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. "testify" was originally published in Poem-a-Day on January 28, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets at poets.org.CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

PODCAST SHOW NOTESEpisode Title:They Made Me Part of History: A Final Deleted Scene from the Cutting Room FloorEpisode Description:Some stories are too good to lose—even when they have to go. In this special episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the final deleted scene from her award-winning memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars. It's a piece she fought to keep, shaped with care, and ultimately had to release. What remains is a story that illuminates not just a family, but an era—and the quiet, ordinary moments that place us inside the extraordinary.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The painful editorial decisions behind cutting 30,000 words from a completed memoir draftWhy even a perfectly written scene must go if it doesn't serve the core throughlineThe relationship between ruthless cutting and creating a "page-turner with real momentum"A vivid personal narrative set against two watershed moments in American historyHow childhood memory, sensory detail, and family values intersect in memoirThe role of parents in shaping a child's moral imagination and sense of witnessEpisode Highlights:The Story Behind the Story — Laura sets the scene for this deleted piece, explaining why she wrote it, what it was meant to do, and why, in the end, it had to go.A Classroom Moment That Stops Time — Something happens in an ordinary second-grade classroom that no child expects—and the world is suddenly, irreversibly different.A Mother on the Couch — Laura describes coming home to find her mother doing something she never did, and what they watched together that afternoon that neither of them would ever forget.A Family Decision Made Over Dinner — Around a table with a favorite childhood meal, Laura's parents make an announcement that will take the whole family somewhere none of them have ever been.A Sea of People — Three months before the classroom scene, Laura's family was already somewhere remarkable—part of something hundreds of thousands of people had traveled to join.Feet in the Water, a Voice in the Air — An eight-year-old girl, tired and hot at the end of a long summer day, hears words that will echo for the rest of her life.The Craft Lesson Underneath — Laura reflects on what this scene taught her about memoir structure, throughline, and the courage required to cut what you love most.An Invitation to the Memoir It Came From — Laura shares reader praise for The Burning Light of Two Stars and invites listeners into the larger story this scene was written to serve.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and tell their most important stories. She is the author of seven books, including her award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and the groundbreaking co-authored work The Courage to Heal.Laura leads weekly writing classes on Zoom, hosts writing retreats including Flourishing as We Age and the Creative Camino pilgrimage. She reaches writers around the world through The Writer's Journey podcast and her Midweek Pause for Peace series. Her teaching is known for being both rigorous and deeply humane—challenging writers to go further than they thought possible while honoring the courage it takes to tell the truth.Key Takeaways from This Episode:Your throughline is everything. Every scene in a memoir—no matter how beautifully written—must serve the central spine of the story. If it doesn't, it has to go, regardless of how much you love it.Cutting is a creative act. Removing 30,000 words from a finished draft isn't failure—it's the work. Momentum is built not just by what you include, but by what you're willing to release.Sensory specificity is the engine of memory. The details that seem too small to matter—the wool skirt, the crystal doorknob, the taste of an Oreo—are often what make a scene unforgettable.Childhood scenes can carry enormous moral weight. The values a child absorbs, and the moments a family chooses to witness together, become part of that child's lifelong understanding of what matters.Even deleted work has value. A scene cut from a memoir isn't wasted—it deepens the writer's understanding of the story, and it may find its audience in an entirely different form.Episode Call-to-Action:For Writers: Take a close look at your own manuscript. Is there a scene you love—one you've been holding onto—that may not be serving your throughline? Laura's experience cutting this piece is an invitation to ask the hard question: What does my story actually need?For Readers: If this deleted scene moved you, imagine what didn't get cut. Pick up a copy of The Burning Light of Two Stars and discover the memoir this scene was written to support.If you haven't yet read The Burning Light of Two Stars — the memoir these deleted scenes were written for — now is the time. Readers describe it as impossible to put down, a book that sends them straight into thinking about their own mothers, their own estrangements, their own unfinished reckonings. You can purchase the print edition and audiobook here: 👉 lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-starsSubscribe: Don't miss future deleted scenes, craft essays, and writing insights. Subscribe to Laura's Substack at laurasaridavis.substack.com to receive every new post directly in your inbox.Deleted Scenes in This Series:The Summer I Dropped Acid with My Father: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/5d90f2b6-2d68-4d9f-a120-cad131f6e3f2I Could Still Let Her Comfort Me Then: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/d72ed72f-70c3-4489-8def-1cf5ad6d5a86They Made Me Part of History: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/de5c307d-9165-43e9-a7d2-50b7cf957362Connect with Laura Davis:🌐 Website: lauradavis.net✉️ Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.com🎙️ Podcast: The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis📚 Writing Classes & Retreats: Available online and internationally — visit her website to learn moreThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: "The Moment" by Margaret AtwoodEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis offers a poem that stops you cold — and then cracks something open. Margaret Atwood's "The Moment" holds up a mirror to one of humanity's oldest assumptions, and asks us to look again. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode is a quiet invitation to reconsider what we think we own — and what has always owned us.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why Laura chose this particular Atwood poem and what it illuminates about the human relationship with the natural worldThe tension at the heart of "The Moment" — between the desire for ownership and the world's quiet, firm refusalHow poetry can shift perspective and loosen the grip of assumptions we didn't know we were holdingAn invitation to sit with Atwood's closing whisper and let it settle into the nervous systemAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Margaret Atwood: Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939 and is one of Canada's finest living writers — a poet, novelist, essayist, and environmental activist whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries. Her fifty-plus books include The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin (2000 Booker Prize), and The Testaments (2019 Booker Prize co-winner). Her most recent book, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, was published in November 2025. Visit her at: https://margaretatwood.ca/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

EPISODE TITLE: What Every Author Craves — And How AI Is Exploiting ItEPISODE DESCRIPTION: Every author has a secret hunger. And somewhere, an algorithm has learned exactly how to feed it. In this solo episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis pulls back the curtain on a sophisticated new scam flooding writers' inboxes — one that bypasses the usual red flags by doing something far more insidious: telling you exactly what you've always longed to hear. Laura shares the full paper trail of a real exchange that nearly fooled her, unpacks why even experienced authors are vulnerable, and offers tools and resources to help writers protect themselves without closing their hearts entirely.WHAT LAURA COVERS IN THIS EPISODE:Why authors are uniquely vulnerable to AI-generated flattery — and what that reveals about the writing lifeThe anatomy of a sophisticated AI praise scam: what makes these emails so disarmingly convincingHow Laura's own hunger for recognition — shaped by decades of publishing history — set her up to be fooledThe complete email exchange that almost got her, including her own annotated commentary in real timeHow the scam pivoted when she pushed back — and what that second response revealedRed flags to watch for when glowing outreach lands in your inboxResources from fellow writers and publishing insiders who are tracking this phenomenonHow to fight back — and why Laura thinks you shouldEPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:The Inbox Flood — Laura describes the wave of AI-generated praise letters that have become a regular feature of her writing life, and what distinguishes them from genuine reader mail.A Career-Long Vulnerability — To understand why this scam works, Laura goes back decades — to a million-copy bestseller, bags of fan mail, and the particular hunger that kind of early success can create.The Email That Snagged Her — Arriving while Laura was in Egypt for her daughter's wedding, one message stood apart from the rest. She flagged it to answer personally. That decision set everything in motion.Reading It Live — Laura shares the full email — purportedly from a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist — along with her own annotated reactions as she read it for the first time. The commentary is both hilarious and uncomfortably honest.Laura Writes Back — After returning home from more than a day of travel, one of the first things Laura did was compose a careful, open reply. She's not entirely proud of that fact. She shares it anyway.The Second Letter — The response that arrived a day and a half later is what finally confirmed everything. Laura describes the feeling of reading it — and why "slimed" is exactly the right word.Why This Scam Works on Writers — Laura steps back from the personal story to name the deeper dynamic: what it means to create work that yearns to be seen, and how that yearning becomes a target.Resources and a Call to Fight Back — Laura points listeners toward three fellow writers who are tracking and responding to this phenomenon — including one who had a very satisfying time fighting back.ABOUT HOST LAURA DAVIS:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find, shape, and share their most important stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and The Courage to Heal, co-authored with Ellen Bass, which has sold over one million copies and transformed the lives of survivors worldwide.Laura teaches writing in all forms — memoir, personal essay, poetry, and more — through weekly online classes, immersive retreats, and international writing and pilgrimage programs. She is the host of The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, where she shares craft, reflection, and the deep work of the writing life.RESOURCES LAURA MENTIONS:The Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis (BookLife Prize Winner for Best Memoir, 2021) https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/The Courage to Heal by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass https://bookshopsantacruz.com/book/9780061284335"Why Authors Are Perfect Victims" by Brooke Warner, founder of She Writes Press: https://open.substack.com/pub/brookewarner/p/why-authors-are-perfect-victims"War and Peace and Book Promotion" by Dan Schorr: https://danschorr.substack.com/p/war-and-peace-and-book-promotionThe Impersonation Trap by Victoria Strauss on Writer Beware: https://writerbeware.blog/2024/03/15/the-impersonation-list/KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:AI scammers have learned to exploit the specific emotional vulnerabilities of authors — including the longing to be seen, understood, and widely read. Awareness of that vulnerability is your first line of defense.The most sophisticated AI praise emails skip the sales pitch entirely. If a message offers only admiration and thoughtful questions with no obvious ask, that's not proof it's real — it may be proof it's very well-designed.When something in your inbox feels almost too perfectly attuned to your deepest hopes, pause before responding. That feeling of being completely understood by a stranger is worth examining carefully.Pushing back and asking direct questions — "Are you actually you?" — is not rude. It is a reasonable response to the times we are living in, and any genuine person will understand.You don't have to go numb to protect yourself. The goal is discernment, not cynicism — learning to recognize manipulation without losing the openness that makes you a writer in the first place.EPISODE CALL-TO-ACTION:If AI flattery has found its way into your inbox, you are not alone — and you are not foolish for being tempted. Laura encourages every writer to read Brooke Warner's post on why authors are perfect targets, follow Dan Schorr's lead and consider fighting back, and share this episode with a fellow writer who needs to hear it.And if you've been waiting for a sign to finally say yes to yourself: one room has just opened at Flourishing as We Age, Laura's upcoming week-long writing retreat on the California coast this June. Visit lauradavis.net to learn more.CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVIS:Substack & Podcast: laurasaridavis.substack.comWebsite: lauradavis.netWriting Classes, Retreats & International Programs: lauradavis.netThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Pause for Peace: Listening for the Singing — featuring a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerEpisode Description: In this Midweek Pause for Peace, Laura Davis shares a poem from one of her favorite daily voices — Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, whose poems arrive in Laura's inbox each morning like a warm and welcoming gift. "Listening for the Singing" holds the full weight of these times without flinching, and finds inside that weight something unexpected: the sound of others, singing in the dark, calling out so no one has to feel alone. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode is a reminder that peace and difficulty have always coexisted — and that the singing is how we find each other.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why Laura subscribes to Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's daily poems and why she recommends listeners do the sameHow Trommer holds injustice and peace in the same breath — without pretending either one awayThe surprising image at the heart of this poem and what it reveals about why we create, sing, and reach toward one another in difficult timesAn introduction to Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, former Poet Laureate of Colorado's Western Slope and dedicated champion of creative practiceAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is an American poet dedicated to helping others explore creative practice, associated with Colorado. She served as Poet Laureate of San Miguel County, Colorado from 2006 to 2010, and was named Poet Laureate of Colorado's Western Slope by the Telluride Institute from 2015 to 2017. Laura warmly recommends subscribing to Rosemerry's daily poems — a small, sustaining gift arriving in your inbox every morning. You can subscribe to Rosemerry's daily poems here: https://www.wordwoman.com/a-daily-dose-of-poetry/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode TitlePause for Peace: Donna Ashworth's "As Time Goes By" – A Meditation on Letting Go and Opening to Life's UnfoldingEpisode DescriptionIn this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, host Laura Davis shares Scottish poet Donna Ashworth's moving poem "As Time Goes By," a reflection on life's essential truth: the continual process of letting go of what we think we can't bear to lose, only to open to the unfolding of something new. Laura pairs this heartfelt poem with peaceful imagery to offer listeners a moment of calm and perspective.What Laura Covers in This EpisodeDonna Ashworth's poem "As Time Goes By" in its entiretyThe wisdom of loosening our grip on what we think defines homeRecognizing that we've always been everything we needed to beUnderstanding the readjustment that happens when simple things become big and big things become simpleThe power of a heart that continues to beat despite being shatteredChoosing peace over wealth, time over money, and treasuring smilesAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured PoetDonna Ashworth is a Sunday Times best-selling Scottish poet who came to prominence in 2020 when her poetry about the UK's COVID-19 lockdown was read in a viral video to raise money for the NHS. She has subsequently been credited with helping poetry sales reach record levels in the UK.Learn more about Donna Ashworth's work: https://donnaashworth.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISJoin Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasavisdavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

How to Lead a Writing Retreat People Never ForgetInside Secrets from Twenty-Five Years of Leading RetreatsEpisode Description:What separates a writing retreat people talk about for years from one they quickly forget? With her Flourishing as We Age retreat just days away at the Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, Laura Davis pulls back the curtain on the hard-won wisdom that has shaped her twenty-five years of leading transformative retreats around the world. This episode is essential listening for anyone who leads — or dreams of leading — retreats, writing groups, or who wants to create sacred container for others.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why even a retreat five minutes from home requires full immersion — and what that teaches us about holding spaceWhy its crucial to build a team that has your back and brings gifts you don't necessarily have yourselfThe importance of ground rules, confidentiality, and group agreements in creating safetyWhy curriculum is not king — and what isHow to read a room using senses, intuition, and non-verbal cuesThe emotional arc of a retreat: beginning, middle, and endCaring for introverts, honoring the body, and preparing participants for re-entry into real lifeEpisode Highlights:The immersion principle — Why Laura books herself a room at the Villa Maria del Mar even though she only lives a five-minute drive away, and what that boundary makes possible for everyone.The daily team debrief — Why debriefing daily is just as essential as planning.Hold it loosely — Laura's approach to curriculum: plan in exquisite detail, then be willing to abandon your plan when the moment calls for something else.Creating the container — The specific practices Laura uses to mark the threshold between ordinary life and sacred space — and why mirrored opening and closing rituals matter more than most leaders realize.The news-free zone — Why Laura institutes a technology and media policy at every retreat, and how she gets everyone's agreement at the very first session.What participants bring — A reframe that shifts retreat dynamics: helping people identify what they have to offer the group, not just what they hope to receive.When things go sideways — The counterintuitive advice Laura gives about skipped activities, changed plans, and moments when the curriculum simply has to go.The re-entry challenge — Why Laura takes time at every retreat's end to prepare participants for the transition back to real life — and what she's learned about what makes that landing hard.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than thirty-five years of experience helping people find their voices and tell their stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal.Laura leads writing classes, retreats, and international writing pilgrimages, including the Creative Camino program in Spain. She is the host of The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, and the Midweek Pause for Peace poetry series. Key Takeaways from This Episode:Immersion is non-negotiable. To hold space for transformation in others, a retreat leader must fully leave ordinary life behind — even when home is just down the street.Plan in detail; hold loosely. A strong curriculum gives you a map, but the most important skill is knowing when to fold the map and follow what's alive in the room.Safety is built, not assumed. Clear ground rules, confidentiality agreements, and group covenants don't happen on their own — they require intention, time, and explicit buy-in from every participant.Retreats engage the whole person. Writing is the anchor, but the body, the senses, nature, humor, movement, and silence all deserve a seat at the table.The ending is part of the retreat. Helping participants prepare for re-entry is not an afterthought — it's one of the most important gifts a retreat leader can offer.Episode Call-to-Action:If this episode sparked ideas about how you lead — or want to lead — writing retreats or groups, Laura invites you to:Explore her upcoming retreats at lauradavis.net, including Flourishing as We Age and future international offerings. Join her mailing list to be informed of new retreats as they're scheduled.Share this episode with a writing teacher, retreat leader, or anyone who creates containers for others.Leave a comment on Substack with the one piece of advice from this episode you're taking with you.Subscribe to The Writer's Journey so you don't miss Laura's update from inside the retreat.Connect with Laura Davis:🌐 Website: lauradavis.net📬 Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewritersjourney/🎙️ Podcast: The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis📖 Books: The Burning Light of Two Stars | The Courage to HealThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/And remember, every time you click the heart, leave a comment or share a post, you're making it easier for new readers to discover The Writer's Journey. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Susanne Moser's "Drop in the Bucket" - Finding Power in Small Acts of ChangeEpisode Description:In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, acclaimed writing teacher and author Laura Davis shares climate scientist and poet Susanne Moser's powerful poem "drop in the bucket." Laura pairs this moving piece with peaceful imagery to offer listeners a meaningful respite while addressing one of our most challenging questions: "What can I as one person do to make a difference?" This episode provides essential reflection on how individual actions accumulate into transformative change, offering both comfort and inspiration for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the scale of global challenges.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How to move beyond despair when facing overwhelming global challenges and dysfunctionThe transformative power of individual actions, even when they seem small or insignificantFinding purpose and agency through consistent, meaningful contribution to collective changeThe spiritual and practical dimensions of being "the drop in the bucket" that creates lasting transformationAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Featured Poet Susanne Moser:Susanne Moser is a committed pilgrim to soul, lover of Earth, long-time friend of Joanna Macy, and practitioner of the Work That Reconnects. In the world as we know it, she has worked as a climate change scientist. While that survival dance is on its way out, she remains feverishly committed to saving all that is worth saving, fostering necessary transformative shifts among humans, building and strengthening capacities for the Great Turning through the Work That Reconnects, and when the muse moves through her, writing poetry to sing the Earth's and life's praises. You can find her on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFNkXhNHQ8G/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVIS:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasavisdavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

EPISODE TITLE A Mother's Blessing: Love, Loss, and a Wedding on the Red SeaEPISODE DESCRIPTION Some life experiences arrive too large for words — at least at first. Laura Davis returns from her daughter's four-day wedding celebration on the shores of the Red Sea in Egypt, carrying emotions she's still learning to name. In this episode, she reflects on what it means to be fully present to a moment you know you'll spend years writing toward — and shares something rare and tender: a blessing she wrote for her daughter and new son-in-law, offered here for the first time.WHAT LAURA COVERS IN THIS EPISODEWhat it felt like to be immersed in a culture and a celebration that wasn't hers to control or predictThe particular grief of watching a child belong fully to a world you can only visitWhy she chose not to write during the experience — and what that choice reveals about the relationship between living and writingA beautiful original wedding blessing she wrote for her daughter and son-in-law, shared here for the first timeA reflection on what she's still processing EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSLaura describes returning home from Egypt still deep in jetlag and the disorientation of re-entry — a feeling many travelers will recognizeShe reflects on the unexpected gift of relinquishing her habitual need to plan, control, and anticipate what comes nextA quiet, honest reckoning with the complexity of celebrating a child's joy while simultaneously grieving the distance that joy entailsThe blessing itself — a lyrical, layered piece that speaks to love, listening, forgiveness, growth, and communityLaura's candid acknowledgment that she does not yet have the language for what she witnessed, and her willingness to sit in that uncertaintyA meditation on when writing serves experience — and when it distances us from itThe glimpse of a future essay, hinted at but not yet written: a gift to listeners who follow her creative process over timeThe quiet authority of a writer who knows when to waitABOUT HOST LAURA DAVIS Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and tell their truest stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of The Courage to Heal. Laura hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, leads writing retreats and international writing pilgrimages, and teaches weekly Zoom classes for writers at every stage. Her work sits at the intersection of craft, courage, and the examined life.RESOURCES LAURA MENTIONSThe Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's award-winning memoir (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021)The Writer's Journey Substack — laurasaridavis.substack.comFlourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women — Upcoming June retreat at Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, CA (one room now available due to cancellation)Laura's website — lauradavis.netKEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODESome experiences are too large to write about in the moment — and honoring that instinct is itself a form of craft wisdom.Relinquishing control and the need to know what comes next can be a profound form of freedom, both in travel and in writing.The most complex emotions we carry often hold contradictions — joy and grief, presence and distance — and writing can be the place we eventually make sense of them.A blessing, like a poem, can distill what we most want to say to someone we love; it is one of the most purposeful forms of writing there is.The willingness to say "I don't have the words yet" is not a failure — it is the beginning of every meaningful piece of writing.EPISODE CALL-TO-ACTION If this episode moved you, share it with someone who understands what it means to love across distance. Leave a comment on the Substack post — Laura reads every one. And if you've been sitting with a life experience that feels too big to write about yet, consider joining Laura at her upcoming Flourishing as We Age writing retreat in Santa Cruz, California this June. One room has just opened due to a cancellation. Learn more and register at https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/ CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVISWebsite: lauradavis.netSubstack: laurasaridavis.substack.comThe Writer's Journey podcast — available wherever you listen to podcastsWeekly Zoom writing classes — details at lauradavis.netFlourishing as We Age retreat — Santa Cruz, CA, June 2026The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more. https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

PODCAST SHOW NOTESEpisode Title:I Could Still Let Her Comfort Me Then: A Deleted Scene from the Cutting Room FloorEpisode Description:It begins the way many childhood summers do — open roads, swimming holes, and the particular freedom of being ten years old enjoying a beautiful afternoon. Then one afternoon changes everything.In this second installment of her deleted scenes series, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares another scene cut from her award-winning 2021 memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars. What Laura witnesses that afternoon, and what happens in its aftermath, distills the entire emotional landscape of her memoir into a single, devastating closing line. As with the first deleted scene in this series, Laura also reflects on the craft decision behind the cut — and what writers can learn from letting go of the scenes they love most.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The second in Laura's series of deleted scenes from The Burning Light of Two Stars, shared while she's on vacationA vivid portrait of a cross-country family road trip the summer Laura turned tenHow an ordinary summer afternoon can become the kind of memory that never leaves youAn unexpected moment that pulls Laura into something far beyond the edges of childhoodThe aftermath — and what one small detail quietly reveals about a lifelong relationshipHow a single closing line can carry decades of a relationship's weightThe craft lesson: how a scene can be exquisitely written, emotionally true, and still not belong in the final bookWhy deleted scenes are not wasted writingEpisode Highlights:A childhood summer that held everything. Laura conjures a lost American world: open roads, chain-smoking parents, an imaginary territorial line bisecting the back seat, swimming holes in every state. The ten-year-old Laura is fully alive on the page — curious, scrappy, and completely free.An ordinary afternoon. After a week on the road, the family makes camp and the children run toward the water. It is exactly the kind of afternoon that summer is made for. Then something stops everything.Laura is pulled into the center of it. A stranger takes charge. Laura is just old enough, just tall enough, to be included. What follows is one of the most quietly suspenseful passages in the scene — a moment in which a ten-year-old finds herself somewhere no child expects to be.The moment she has to let go. There is a point at which Laura can no longer keep up. She has to step back. It is a small, heartbreaking detail — and it puts the reader directly inside her ten-year-old body.What she sees next. Laura moves to a different vantage point and finds something she cannot look away from. She renders what she witnesses without flinching, and neither can the reader.Her mother appears. In the moment after, Laura's mother is suddenly behind her. What she does and what she says is fierce, raw, and completely human. For one suspended moment, mother and daughter are exactly what each other needs.The line that reframes everything. The scene closes with seven words that quietly detonate: I could still let her comfort me then. In that single sentence, Laura telegraphs everything the memoir is about — and everything that is yet to come.The craft lesson: even perfect scenes get cut. This scene was sacrificed for the same reason as the father scene in the previous episode — the memoir's momentum required it. But as Laura shows, deleted scenes have their own life, and they illuminate what the finished book could only gesture toward.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author, writing teacher, and host of The Writer's Journey podcast. With more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and tell their most authentic stories, she is one of the most trusted and respected voices in the writing world today. Laura is the author of seven books, including her award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and the landmark co-authored classic The Courage to Heal.She teaches weekly writing classes on Zoom, leads international writing retreats including the Creative Camino pilgrimage and Flourishing as We Age, and hosts the Midweek Pause for Peace series. Laura's teaching is grounded in a belief that courageous, vulnerable storytelling has the power to heal both the writer and the reader.Key Takeaways from This Episode:Specificity is what makes memoir unforgettable. The sensory details that feel almost too small to include are often the ones that lodge in a reader's body and stay there. Writers should resist the urge to summarize and instead trust the particular, concrete image.One sentence can carry decades. A closing line doesn't need to explain — it needs to land. The best memoir endings open outward rather than close down, leaving the reader holding something they didn't expect to be carrying.Witnessing is its own kind of wound. Memoir can and should make room for the things we saw, not just the things that happened directly to us. What we carry as witnesses is as formative as what we experienced firsthand.A mother's comfort is complicated terrain. The emotional power of this scene comes not just from what happens in the moment, but from the tense Laura uses to describe it. Past tense in memoir is never neutral — it always implies what came after.Episode Call-to-Action:If this episode moved you, Laura invites you to ask: What did you witness as a child that you've never written about? What scene sits just outside the frame of your own story, waiting to be told? Share your reflections in the comments below.If you haven't yet read The Burning Light of Two Stars — the memoir these deleted scenes were written for — now is the time. Readers describe it as impossible to put down, a book that sends them straight into thinking about their own mothers, their own estrangements, their own unfinished reckonings. You can purchase the print edition and audiobook here: 👉 lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-starsIf you're a writer looking for the courage to write the scene that still lives in your body, Laura's weekly writing classes are where that work happens. Visit lauradavis.net to learn more and join the community.And if this episode resonated, please click the ❤️, leave a comment, or share it with someone who needs it. Every click helps new readers and listeners find The Writer's Journey.Deleted Scenes in This Series:The Summer I Dropped Acid with My Father: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/5d90f2b6-2d68-4d9f-a120-cad131f6e3f2I Could Still Let Her Comfort Me Then: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/d72ed72f-70c3-4489-8def-1cf5ad6d5a86They Made Me Part of History: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/de5c307d-9165-43e9-a7d2-50b7cf957362 Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.com — essays, poems, nature photos, and writing craftWebsite: lauradavis.net — classes, retreats, books, and workshopsWeekly Classes: Online Zoom writing classes, ongoing enrollmentWriting Retreats: Including Flourishing as We Age and the Creative Camino PilgrimagePodcast Series: Midweek Pause for Peace — also available on SubstackThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Pause for Peace: Marge Piercy's "The Low Road" — A Timeless Poem About the Power of Collective ActionIn this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares Marge Piercy's iconic poem "The Low Road" — a fiercely hopeful poem about the power of collective action and solidarity. Laura reflects on her personal history with this poem, first encountering it in Piercy's 1980 collection The Moon is Always Female during her years as a young activist, and explores why its message resonates just as powerfully forty-six years later. Paired with peaceful imagery, this episode offers listeners both a moment of calm and a stirring reminder of what becomes possible when people come together.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The enduring relevance of Marge Piercy's activist poetry — why a poem written over four decades ago speaks directly to the challenges of todayHow solidarity and collective action build power — the poem's vision of strength growing from two people to ten million, and what that progression means in our current momentLaura's personal connection to the poem — how a friend's gift of Piercy's poetry collection shaped her thinking during her years as a young lesbian activistThe role of poetry in sustaining resilience — how returning to meaningful poems across different life stages can offer renewed strength and perspectiveAbout Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.Connect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/About Featured Poet Marge Piercy:Marge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist born in 1936 in Detroit, Michigan. Shaped by her working-class roots and her involvement in the civil rights, antiwar, and women's movements of the 1960s, she became one of the most prominent feminist literary voices of her generation. Piercy has published more than twenty poetry collections and seventeen novels, including the science fiction classic Woman on the Edge of Time and the bestselling Gone to Soldiers. Her work centers themes of gender, class, ecology, and Jewish identity. At 88 years old, she continues to write and publish from her home on Cape Cod. Her new book, The Hour of My Death, is forthcoming from Sibylline Press in fall 2026.Learn more about Marge Piercy at: https://margepiercy.com/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Maril Crabtree's Morning News: Poetry on Loving Life Despite World Horrors, Resilience, and Choosing to StayEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Maril Crabtree's brief but powerful poem that captures the paradox of loving life fiercely even as we witness endless suffering. Through carefully selected imagery paired with these essential lines, Laura explores how we sustain connection to beauty and meaning despite being surrounded by terrible things. This episode offers support for anyone struggling to balance awareness of world suffering with personal joy, seeking poetry that honors both witness and resilience, or looking for language that affirms our right to love life even in dark times.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Crabtree's precise calculation—"ten times ten thousand terrible things"—acknowledges the overwhelming scale of suffering without turning away from it or minimizing its realityThe radical act of the poem's pivot at "and still," which transforms awareness of horror into fierce attachment to life rather than despair or detachmentWhy the simple declaration "I don't want to leave it" becomes an act of resistance and affirmation, choosing engagement with the world despite—or perhaps because of—its brokennessThe permission this poem offers to hold both grief for the world's suffering and deep love for being alive, modeling how we can be witnesses to injustice while still sustaining ourselves with joy and connectionAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Maril Crabtree is an American poet who has called Kansas City home since the 1960s. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she views poetry as "the loom that weaves her life-threads together." Her work, including the full-length collection Fireflies in the Gathering Dark (Kelsay Books, 2017, named a Kansas Notable Book) and the chapbooks Dancing with Elvis, Moving On, and Tying the Light, balances witness to injustice—particularly environmental loss and suffering—with sustaining joy, humor, and spiritual depth.Connect with Maril Crabtree: https://www.marilcrabtree.comConnect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

PODCAST SHOW NOTES:Episode Title:The Summer I Dropped Acid with My Father: A Deleted Scene and What I Had to Let goEpisode Description:Some scenes are written perfectly and still have to go. In this special episode of The Writer's Journey, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis opens her archive of cut material from her award-winning 2021 memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars, and shares a piece she fought hard to keep — a single afternoon in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her father that changed something between them permanently. Woven through the storytelling is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at one of the hardest decisions in memoir writing: how to release even your most cherished work when it doesn't serve the book's core arc.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why even the most beautifully written scenes sometimes have to be cut — and how a memoirist knows when that moment has comeThe backstory of Laura's relationship with her father, and the years of silence that preceded this afternoonA fully rendered deleted scene set at a Back to the Land weekend party in the Santa Cruz Mountains, June 1980What happens when carefully constructed emotional armor starts to crackThe conversation fourteen years in the making — and what finally made it possibleA moment of reckoning that neither of them could have planned or predictedThe memoir craft principle of "killing your babies": releasing what the book can live withoutHow a memoir's central arc determines everything — including what must be sacrificedEpisode Highlights:Why Laura is sharing this now. While on vacation, Laura opens her archive of deleted scenes from The Burning Light of Two Stars — material she spent months crafting and held until the very end. This episode is the first in a series, each one carrying its own embedded craft lesson.The scene begins. Laura sets the stage — a winding road into the mountains, a day that feels unhurried, her father nearby — and then a moment arrives that nobody planned for. What happens next is anything but ordinary.When the interior world takes over. Something shifts mid-afternoon that Laura cannot control. Old grief surfaces. Old loneliness. What had been carefully held at a distance is suddenly right there, impossible to look away from.Finding solid ground. Slowly, steadily, Laura makes her way back. It takes time — and patience — and something she has to locate entirely within herself. When she finally arrives, the world looks different.A conversation that had been waiting. Laura finds her father alone, in a space that feels quietly sacred. Fourteen years of unspoken feeling finally have somewhere to go — and he is, at last, listening.Something she had never received before. Her father says something she had never heard in her family. Laura doesn't just hear it — she chooses to take it all the way in. That choice matters.Forgiveness that held. Laura is clear: what shifted that afternoon didn't dissolve when the day ended. It stayed. It changed the shape of what came after.The craft lesson underneath. The scene was cut not because it failed — Laura loved it — but because The Burning Light of Two Stars was built around a different relationship entirely. Understanding that distinction is one of the most essential, and most difficult, lessons in memoir writing.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author, writing teacher, and host of The Writer's Journey podcast. With more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and tell their most authentic stories, she is one of the most trusted voices in the writing world today. Laura is the author of seven books, including her award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and the landmark co-authored classic The Courage to Heal.She teaches weekly writing classes on Zoom, leads international retreats including the Creative Camino pilgrimage, and Flourishing as We Age, and hosts the Midweek Pause for Peace series.Her teaching is grounded in a belief that courageous, vulnerable storytelling has the power to heal both the writer and the reader.Key Takeaways from This Episode:Your memoir has a spine — protect it. Every scene must earn its place by serving the book's central arc. Clarity about what your memoir is truly about is what makes every other editorial decision possible."Killing your babies" is an act of craft, not failure. The ability to release scenes, sentences, and words the book can live without is one of the most important — and most painful — skills a writer develops. Holding on too long is what makes books drag.Receiving is its own act of courage. When something long-withheld is finally offered, a writer — and a person — has a choice about how to take it in. That choice can change everything that comes after.Deleted scenes are not wasted writing. The material that doesn't survive into the final manuscript is part of discovering what the book truly is. These scenes illuminate the story and the craft in ways the published version couldn't contain — and they are worth sharing.Episode Call-to-Action:If this episode moved you, Laura invites you to sit with a question: What scene from your own life has been waiting years to be told? What might need to soften before you could write it?If you haven't yet read The Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's award-winning 2021 memoir and BookLife Prize Winner — this deleted scene is just a glimpse of what's waiting inside. You can purchase the print edition and audiobook here: 👉 lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-starsIf you're a writer wrestling with what to keep, what to cut, or how to find the courage to write the scene that frightens you most, Laura's weekly writing classes are where that work happens. Visit lauradavis.net to learn more.And if this episode resonated, please click the ❤️, leave a comment, or share it with someone who needs it. Every click helps new readers and listeners find The Writer's Journey.Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.com — essays, poems, nature photos, and writing craftWebsite: lauradavis.net — classes, retreats, books, and workshopsWeekly Classes: Online Zoom writing classes, ongoing enrollmentInternational Retreats: Including the Creative Camino pilgrimage writing programPodcast Series: Midweek Pause for Peace — also available on SubstackDeleted Scenes in This Series:The Summer I Dropped Acid with My Father: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/5d90f2b6-2d68-4d9f-a120-cad131f6e3f2I Could Still Let Her Comfort Me Then: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/d72ed72f-70c3-4489-8def-1cf5ad6d5a86They Made Me Part of History: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/de5c307d-9165-43e9-a7d2-50b7cf957362The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Jan Richardson's Blessing When the World is Ending: Poetry for Navigating Grief, Collective Pain, and Finding HopeEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Jan Richardson's profound blessing that offers comfort and perspective during times of collective grief and personal anguish. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this moving poem, Laura creates a restorative space for listeners navigating the weight of world events and personal struggles. This episode offers support for anyone experiencing collective grief, processing world events, or seeking poetry that holds space for both suffering and renewal.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How to find perspective during times of collective grief by recognizing the cycles of death and rebirth that mark human experienceThe unique power of blessings to meet us in moments when our world feels like it's falling apart, without offering false comfort or quick fixesWhy sitting with the shards of what has broken, rather than rushing to repair, creates space for genuine healing and transformationHow tenderness and light gather around us even in endings, supporting the quiet work of beginning againAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Jan Richardson is a writer, artist, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. She serves as director of The Wellspring Studio, LLC. Known for such books as Circle of Grace, The Cure for Sorrow, and Sparrow, she has attracted an international audience drawn to the spaces of welcome, imagination, and solace that she creates with her words and her art. "Blessing When the World is Ending" comes from her book Circle of Grace.Connect with Jan Richardson: https://janrichardson.comConnect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

And I So Walk: On healing, gratitude, and the natural worldEpisode Description:What does it feel like to come through the hardest season of your life and discover that — against all odds — you're thriving? In this deeply personal essay, Laura Davis shares where she is right now: body, spirit, and soul. From dual diagnoses to training hikes in the redwoods, this episode is a meditation on healing, gratitude, and what it means to hold joy and fear at the same time.To See the Images That Go with This Post on Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/1138be6e-1cc5-4f27-80b9-b04cd94e39b9 What Laura Covers in This Episode:The unexpected gift of a health reprieve — and why she's savoring every moment of itHow two serious illnesses reshaped her relationship with her body and with foodWhat the "organ recital" reveals about friendship, aging, and what really mattersTraining for the Camino de Santiago and the joy of walking in communityThe macro/micro dichotomy: how to thrive personally when the world feels like a nightmareWhy the natural world is Laura's church — and what it gives her that nothing else canEpisode Highlights:Laura reflects on a health milestone she wasn't sure she'd ever reach — and what it means to be on the other side of itA candid look at the ongoing decisions that come with cancer survivorship, and how Laura is navigating them on her own termsThe moment Laura stopped tracking every bite of food — and what that small act of freedom signaled about her healingA first training hike with three women who will join Laura on the Creative Camino next fall: what the trail revealed about connection, solitude, and rhythmThe "organ recital" — Laura's name for the health-update exchange that opens nearly every conversation among her peers — and what it says about life at this stageA stunning observation about holding two realities simultaneously: personal thriving alongside collective fearLaura's closing meditation on the body, the trail, and the natural world as sanctuary — a passage that stops you in your tracksA question for listeners: how do you find steadiness and joy when the world feels like it's teetering on the brink?About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find their voice and tell their stories. She is the award-winning author of The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of The Courage to Heal. Laura teaches weekly online writing classes, leads writing retreats, and guides international writing and walking pilgrimages, including the Creative Camino on the Camino de Santiago. Her podcast and Substack, The Writer's Journey, offer essays, curated poems, nature photography, and reflections on writing, life, and what it means to keep going.Resources Laura Mentions:The Creative Camino — Laura's fall 2026 writing and walking pilgrimage on the Camino Francés: https://lauradavis.net/camino/Pipeline Trail, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park — Felton, CaliforniaThe Writer's Journey Substack — laurasaridavis.substack.comThe Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021)Key Takeaways from This Episode:A reprieve is not a cure — it's a window, and learning to climb through it and stand in the light is its own kind of wisdom.Healing is not linear, but the body has its own intelligence. Trusting it — even incrementally — is a radical act.At any age, but especially as we grow older, feeling good is not a given. When you've known real sickness, wellness becomes a tangible, daily source of gratitude.Holding two realities — personal joy and collective fear — doesn't require resolving the tension. It requires stretching your capacity to carry both.The natural world offers something no human-made space can: perspective, sanctuary, and the reminder that we are small, temporary, and held.Episode Call-to-Action:Laura closes this episode with a question she wants you to sit with: How do you find steadiness and joy while the world teeters on the brink? Leave a comment on the Substack post and join the conversation. You can do so here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/1138be6e-1cc5-4f27-80b9-b04cd94e39b9And if this essay moved you, share it with someone who needs it today.Connect with Laura DavisSubstack: laurasaridavis.substack.comWebsite: lauradavis.netWeekly writing classes, retreats, and the Creative Camino: lauradavis.netThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: laurasaridavis.substack.comLearn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: lauradavis.net This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Aurora Levins Morales' Summons: A Call to Action for Peace, Collective Resistance, and Choosing to Stand in the GapEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Aurora Levins Morales' powerful poem that serves as both dream vision and urgent call to action. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this rallying cry for peacemakers, Laura explores how ordinary people must step into the work of peace when governments and leaders fail. This episode offers support for anyone feeling called to action, seeking poetry that mobilizes rather than pacifies, or looking for language that transforms grief and despair into collective purpose.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How the dream of ten thousand grandmothers from twelve hundred corners of the earth creates a vision of collective action when peacekeepers aren't boarding planes and leaders refuse to say every life is preciousWhy the poet insists we cannot wait for governments and positions us—ordinary people with bandages and guavas—as the ones who must cup our hands around each heart and stand between bullets and fleshThe transformative power of singing the earth's song so beautifully that vengeance turns to weeping, mourners embrace, and grief replaces every impulse toward harmHow this poem functions as a literal summons—"Wake up. Put on your shoes"—inviting readers to meet at the corner with whatever gifts they bring and begin the work of building peace togetherAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Aurora Levins Morales is a cuir Ashkenazi Boricua writer of poetry, essays, and fiction. A child of blacklisted communist parents, she grew up immersed in social justice movements and the poetry of liberation, and came into public voice as part of the collective eruptions of radical art of the 1970s and '80s. She is the author of nine books, including Medicine Stories, Kindling, Remedios, and Silt. Her poetry is widely used in synagogues and churches, in schools and at rallies, painted on walls and recited at weddings, translated into seven languages and reprinted in dozens of anthologies. She lives at Finca la Lluvia, an agro-poetry project in the western mountains of Boriken, also known as Puerto Rico. "Summons" was published in her collection Rimonim.Connect with Aurora Levins Morales: Support Aurora on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/auroralevinsmorales and visit her website: www.auroralevinsmorales.comConnect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

SHOW NOTESEpisode Title: I've Hated Shopping for Clothes My Entire Life — Until I Didn't Have a ChoiceEpisode Description: In this humorous, deeply personal episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis takes listeners on a journey that begins with a pile of luggage beside her bed and ends in a Victoria's Secret dressing room — with a lot of life in between. Equal parts funny, tender, and surprisingly moving, this essay explores what it means to show up for the moments that matter most, even when your body, your budget, and your wardrobe conspire against you.Photos That Go With This Episode: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/c4045f35-54ec-4681-85a2-4f574ea7a9f9What Laura Covers in This Episode:The intimate logistics of preparing for a destination wedding while managing post-cancer health needsA $6,000 day at Saks Fifth Avenue with a professional "Shopping Sherpa" — and what it cost her beyond moneyWhy Laura has spent 50 years avoiding clothes shopping —the childhood roots of that aversionWhat it's like to navigate a mainstream lingerie store as a 69-year-old woman fresh out of radiation treatmentThe unexpected humanity that shows up in the most unlikely placesWhat a bra fitting reveals about identity, the body, and the passage of timeEpisode Highlights:The bedside pile — Laura takes inventory of what's accumulating beside her bed as she preps for Egypt, and what that pile says about this chapter of her lifeThe dress that almost fit — a spontaneous shopping trip in Boston leads to a mother-of-the-bride moment, complicated by her still-healing bodyThe Shopping Sherpa — Laura recounts her one previous foray into professional styling: a single, surreal, tear-filled afternoon at Saks Fifth Avenue that changed how she saw herselfA wardrobe for a book tour — the story of what Laura wore on the road for I Thought We'd Never Speak Again, and the periwinkle leather pants she still mournsWrong store, right mission — Laura arrives at Chico's ready to be fitted, only to discover she's in entirely the wrong placeThe dressing room at Victoria's Secret — what happens when a 69-year-old cancer survivor walks into a store she never imagined would be hersDominique saves the day — the store manager who finally gives Laura the experience she came for, bra by braThe number that stopped her cold — a measurement that sends Laura spiraling through decades of body history, from her mother's era to her ownAbout Host Laura Davis: Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping people tell their most important stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal with Ellen Bass.Laura hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, leads writing retreats and international programs — including Flourishing as We Age and the beloved Creative Camino pilgrimage — and teaches weekly writing classes via Zoom. Her work sits at the intersection of personal narrative, healing, and the craft of writing.Resources Laura Mentions:The Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis  https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/I Thought We'd Never Speak Again: The Road from Estrangement to Reconciliation by Laura Davis — https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/The Courage to Heal by Laura Davis and Ellen BassSoma at Chico's (lingerie/bra fitting)Helen Salzman Boutique, Stanford Cancer Center — specialized shop for oncology patientsThe Writer's Journey Substack — laurasaridavis.substack.comFlourishing as We Age: A weeklong writing retreat for women: https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/Key Takeaways from This Episode:Showing up fully for the people we love sometimes requires doing the very things we've spent a lifetime avoiding.The stories we carry about our bodies are long — and they don't always match who we've become.Asking for help, whether from a Shopping Sherpa or a store manager named Dominique, is its own kind of courage.Illness changes us in ways both devastating and unexpected, including what we measure, what fits, and what we let go of.The smallest ordinary missions — finding a bra, getting dressed for a wedding — can hold an entire life inside them.Episode Call-to-Action: If this essay made you laugh, wince, or reach for your own complicated memories of shopping, bodies, and the rituals of getting ready — share it with someone who'd understand. And if you haven't yet subscribed to The Writer's Journey, now is a wonderful time to join Laura's community of writers and readers. Leave a comment, click the heart, and let Laura know what this one stirred in you.Connect with Laura Davis:Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.com — essays, poems, nature photos, and writing class updatesWebsite: lauradavis.net — books, retreats, writing classes, and international programsPodcast: The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis — wherever you listen to podcastsRetreats: https://lauradavis.net/writing-retreats-2/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Mary Camille Thomas' Resistance: Poetry on Gardening as Metaphor for Political Struggle, Persistence, and Accepting Long BattlesEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares her writing group colleague Mary Camille Thomas' elegant poem that uses the work of removing invasive oxalis from a garden as a metaphor for political resistance. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this deceptively simple work, Laura explores how the poem illuminates the gap between our fantasies of dramatic liberation and the reality of humble, persistent effort. This episode offers support for anyone feeling exhausted by resistance work, seeking poetry that honors small acts of persistence, or looking for language that reframes long struggles as worthy rather than futile.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Thomas transforms the physical act of digging out invasive plants—slicing through weedy tangles, tugging at root masses, tossing bulbs without ceremony—into a meditation on the unglamorous work of resistance that happens in small squares of earth rather than grand battlesThe poem's honest acknowledgment that sometimes resistance yields results (entire oxalis pulled with bulbs clinging to white tendrils) but mostly roots go deep, bulbs remain nestled in secret places, and invaders continue sucking resources meant for what we're trying to protectWhy the speaker's desire "to be the American army liberating Paris" contrasts so poignantly with the reality of being "only one humble partisan" facing a long battle, capturing the deflation many activists feel between their visions of dramatic change and the slow work of daily resistanceHow the poem offers permission to accept that this looks to be a long battle rather than demanding immediate victory, honoring the humble partisan who keeps digging even when roots go deep and the work feels endlessAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Mary Camille Thomas is a native of Santa Cruz, California who considers herself lucky to have returned after living internationally and on the road. She is a librarian by profession, and her poetry has appeared in The Moving Force Journal, Porter Gulch Review, and Sisters Singing. She is currently working on a novel called What Lies Buried and a collection of poems of the spirit.Connect with Mary Camille Thomas: https://marycamillethomas.comConnect with Laura and Mary’s teacher, Carolyn Brigit Flynn: https://carolynbrigitflynn.substack.com/Connect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Jack Gilbert's Defense: Poetry on Risking Delight, Accepting Gladness in the Ruthless Furnace, and Making Room for Joy Amid SufferingEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Jack Gilbert's profound poem that challenges us to embrace happiness and delight even as we remain aware of suffering everywhere. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this essential work, Laura explores Gilbert's argument that denying our own gladness actually diminishes rather than honors others' pain. This episode offers support for anyone struggling with guilt over experiencing joy, seeking poetry that gives permission for happiness amid sorrow, or looking for language that reconciles awareness of injustice with celebration of beauty.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Gilbert's unflinching catalog of suffering—babies starving with flies in their nostrils, slaughter everywhere—creates the context for his radical argument that we must still enjoy our lives because denying happiness lessens the importance of others' deprivationWhy the poem insists we cannot do without delight and enjoyment, arguing that "to make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil" and that we dishonor both God's creation and human resilience if we refuse gladnessThe stubbornness required to accept our happiness in what Gilbert calls "the ruthless furnace of this world," and how this acceptance becomes an act of defiance rather than denial or privilegeHow the poem's final image—standing at the prow of a small ship, hearing faint oars in silence—demonstrates that moments of transcendent beauty are "truly worth all the years of sorrow that are to come," offering a framework for embracing both suffering and joy as essential parts of being fully humanAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Jack Gilbert (1925–2012) was an American poet known for his spare, emotionally direct verse that explored love, loss, and the search for meaning. Born in Pittsburgh, he gained early recognition when his first collection, Views of Jeopardy (1962), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, but then largely withdrew from the American poetry scene, spending decades living in Greece and Italy in deliberate simplicity. His infrequent but powerful work, including The Great Fires (1994) and Refusing Heaven (2005), was characterized by its refusal of ornament and fierce commitment to emotional truth, often centering on his marriage to sculptor Michiko Nogami, whose early death haunted his later poetry.Connect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at:https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Hard Choices:  How I Decided to Publish Another Book and Risk Losing my Family.Episode Description: In this deeply personal episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the essay she published in Publishers Weekly about her wrenching decision to publish her award-winning memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars, nineteen years after publishing her last book. Laura takes listeners inside the private calculus every memoirist faces: What happens when telling the truth might cost you the people you love? And as an exclusive for her Substack readers, she shares the actual letter she wrote to her family before the book came out — a document of rare candor and courage.What Laura Covers in This EpisodeThe unexpected aftermath of publishing The Courage to Heal (co-authored with Ellen Bass in 1988) — and the family fracture it causedHow Laura spent two decades as a writing teacher, keeping her own most urgent stories unpublishedThe moment she realized she had a new book growing inside her — and why she kept telling herself she'd never publish itThe line she had to cross before she could seriously consider putting The Burning Light of Two Stars into the worldHow she weighed her obligations to her family against her identity as a writer and storytellerWhat actually happened when she told her family the book was coming — and the range of responses she receivedThe exclusive family letter she wrote before publication — shared here for the first timeEpisode HighlightsThe First Reckoning — Laura traces the seismic family rupture that followed the publication of The Courage to Heal, and how she and her mother spent years finding their way back to each other.The Silent Bargain — For two decades, Laura kept the peace by keeping her most personal stories out of print. She reflects on what that cost her as a writer — and why it couldn't last.Writing in Secret — Scrawling dialogue on scraps of paper in hospital rooms and doctor's offices, Laura describes writing the book she told herself she'd never publish.The Weight of the Question — Laura unpacks the central dilemma facing any memoirist writing about family: How do you honor your truth without destroying the relationships you've rebuilt?The Decision — After years of deliberation, Laura chose to become an author again — and what she did the day she signed the contract is something every memoir writer should hear.The Family Responses — From silence to direct confrontation, Laura shares what happened when her extended family found out the book was real.Joy Tempered — Laura reflects on what the lead-up to a book launch actually feels like when the stakes are this personal — and why she wouldn't make a different choice.The Letter — Exclusive to Substack readers: the full text of the letter Laura sent to her family before The Burning Light of Two Stars was published — an intimate, generous act of courage rarely seen in the memoir world.About Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find and tell their most important stories. She is the author of seven books, including The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the 2021 BookLife Prize, and co-author of The Courage to Heal with Ellen Bass — a landmark work that helped launch the incest survivor empowerment movement.Laura teaches all forms of writing through weekly online Zoom classes, writing retreats at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, and international programs including her Creative Camino pilgrimage in Spain. She publishes The Writer's Journey on Substack and hosts two podcast series: her main writing-focused show and Midweek Pause for Peace, which pairs poetry with peaceful imagery. Her teaching is known for its warmth, rigor, and deep belief that every writer's story matters.Resources Laura MentionsThe Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis — her award-winning 2021 memoir (BookLife Prize Winner) https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis — the landmark 1988 book on healing from childhood sexual abuseSoapbox, Publishers Weekly — where "Hard Choices" was originally published (August 9, 2021)Free Two-Hour Writing Workshop: Flourishing as We Age — Laura's upcoming online preview event. You can register here: https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/#onlineLaura's Substack, The Writer's Journey: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Laura's website: https://lauradavis.net/Key Takeaways from This EpisodeThe "safe container" is a legitimate writing strategy. Telling yourself "I'm just writing this for myself" isn't self-deception — it's a way to protect the process while the work finds its form. Many writers need this permission to begin.Publishing a memoir about family is rarely a one-time reckoning. Laura's story shows that the consequences of writing your truth can span decades — and that rebuilding relationships is possible, even after rupture.The decision to publish belongs to the writer. Waiting for everyone's blessing may mean waiting forever. Laura's path forward required accepting that she could not control how others received her truth — only how carefully and lovingly she communicated it.Writing a letter to your family before publication is worth serious consideration. Laura's approach — informing, acknowledging, and apologizing in advance — models one way to hold both creative integrity and human care at the same time.Joy and grief can coexist at a book launch. The lead-up to publication isn't always pure celebration. Laura's honesty about the emotional complexity of that time is a gift to any writer preparing to put a personal book into the world.Episode Call-to-ActionIf this episode stirred something in you — whether you're wrestling with your own "hard choice" about what to write, or sitting with a story you haven't dared to tell yet — Laura invites you to bring it to the page. Consider:Join Laura's free two-hour writing workshop —Flourishing as We Age: https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/#onlineOrder The Burning Light of Two Stars — read the memoir at the center of this story. https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/Subscribe to The Writer's Journey on Substack to receive Laura's essays, poems, and writing guidance directly in your inbox. https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Share this episode with a writer in your life who's facing their own hard choice.Connect with Laura DavisSubstack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Website & Weekly WritingClasses: https://lauradavis.net/Writing Retreats — https://lauradavis.net/writing-retreats-2/International Programs — Creative Camino pilgrimage, SpainThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Julia Fehrenbacher's Rays of Kindness: Poetry on Imagining Kindness as the Water We Drink, the Air We Breathe, and the River Through EverythingEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Julia Fehrenbacher's visionary poem that invites us to reimagine kindness not as occasional gesture but as the fundamental element of existence. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this transformative work, Laura explores how the poem challenges us to make kindness our north star, our measure of success, and the river flowing through everything. This episode offers support for anyone seeking hope for a kinder world, poetry that envisions radical transformation through simple acts, or language that reframes kindness as essential infrastructure rather than luxury.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Fehrenbacher's opening invitation—"Let's let ourselves imagine"—creates permission to envision a world where kindness becomes as fundamental as water, air, and ground, transforming it from occasional virtue into the essential medium of existenceThe poem's call to "pledge our allegiance to kindness, cast our vote for kindness, worship kindness" as a radical reorientation of values that positions human connection and care above all other measures of right and successWhy the image of kindness as "the river that flows through everything" and "rays of kindness that reach out and out and out" suggests that acts of care create expanding circles of influence, each compliment and warm smile and reaching hand generating more kindness downstreamHow the poem's closing vision of "sky that opens wide and waters every parched inch of this holy, hurting world" acknowledges both the world's wounds and its sacredness, offering kindness as the water that nourishes what is parched rather than what is already flourishingAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Julia Fehrenbacher is a poet, an author, a life coach, a teacher, a regular practicer of yoga, and a sometimes-painter. She is most at home by the ocean and in the forests.Connect with Julia Fehrenbacher: https://juliafehrenbacher.comConnect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

SHOW NOTES:Episode Title: The Stage I Never Planned to Take: Writing as a Path to Courage and ResistanceEpisode Description: In this timely and deeply personal episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis offers both a writing practice and a story of unexpected courage — one that reminds us we have more bravery inside us than we may realize. Recording on the morning of the third No Kings rally, Laura connects the urgency of this political moment to the power of looking back at our own histories to find the strength we need to act now.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Why the current political climate makes reclaiming our personal courage essentialA powerful writing prompt for excavating your own history of bravery and resistanceHow writing fleshes out memories and gives them visceral, usable powerThe story behind The Courage to Heal — and why Laura chose a different story to write about todayA raw, twenty-minute free write from Laura's own early years as an out lesbianWhat happened at a women's music festival forty-five years ago that Laura has never forgottenWhy revisiting past courage can fuel present action — and how to make that memory available to yourself right nowEpisode Highlights:Laura opens from Lexington, Massachusetts on the morning of the third No Kings rally — and reflects on the historical resonance of that placeShe shares the Margaret Mead quote that has guided her through moments of collective fear and uncertaintyLaura reflects briefly on The Courage to Heal — a landmark book that came at enormous personal cost — before turning to a less obvious storyA twenty-minute free write takes listeners into a vivid scene from Laura's early twenties: a women's music festival in northern California, a drunk woman, and a terrified little boyThe moment Laura steps between the woman and the child — and what she discovers about herself in that instantLaura organizes four other lesbians to take the stage with her, drafts a statement on the spot, and speaks out in an unwelcoming crowdShe closes by inviting readers and listeners to write their own courage stories and share them in the commentsAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find their voices and tell their truest stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021), and co-author of The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, one of the most influential books ever written for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.Laura teaches weekly Zoom writing classes, leads national and international writing retreats — including Flourishing as We Age and the Camino de Santiago Creative Pilgrimage— and hosts a podcast: The Writer's Journey. Her Substack newsletter, The Writer's Journey, reaches readers and writers around the world.Resources Laura Mentions:The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse — co-authored with Ellen Bass (1988), a landmark book for survivorsThe Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's BookLife Prize-winning memoirFlourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women — Laura's upcoming June retreat at an oceanfront retreat center in Santa Cruz, California https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/A free two-hour introductory workshop based on the concepts explored in the Flourishing as We Age retreat. Free and online: April 18th online. You can register at: https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/#onlineThe Writer's Journey Substack newsletter: www.laurasaridavis.substack.com   Laura Davis official website: www.lauradavis.netKey Takeaways from This Episode:Writing activates courage — Putting a memory of bravery on the page doesn't just record it; it re-embodies it and makes it available as a resource in the present moment.Your courage history is real and retrievable — Most of us have moments of moral or physical bravery we haven't thought about in years. Writing brings them back into focus.Courage doesn't have to be grand — The moment that comes to mind may be quiet, private, or unexpected. All of it counts.Collective action starts with individual memory — Before we can show up fully in the resistance, it helps to remind ourselves that we have shown up before.The prompt works — Whether you write, speak it aloud, share it with a friend, or sit quietly with it, the act of recalling a time you stood up with courage can shift how you move through the world today.Episode Call-to-Action:Laura invites listeners to respond to the courage prompt in this episode — and to share their stories in the comments. She also encourages listeners to join her for a free two-hour writing workshop, Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women. April 18th, 10-12 Pacific time, 1-3 Eastern time. It will be recorded for those who can't attend live. You can register here:https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/#onlineA weeklong version of this workshop will take place in June at a beautiful oceanfront retreat center in Santa Cruz, California. This intimate, transformative week uses story, deep listening, and ritual to help women build resilience, welcome change, and hold grief and gratitude at the same time. Learn more at: https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Rob Brezsny's Blessing: Poetry for Sustaining Hope, Cooking Meals, and Building Community as Democracy CollapsesEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Rob Brezsny's powerful blessing that honors the everyday acts of resistance, care, and community-building that sustain us through political collapse. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this litany of affirmations, Laura explores how cooking meals, scattering seeds, and gathering kitchen table strategies become sacred acts when democracy crumbles. This episode offers support for anyone feeling exhausted by resistance work, seeking poetry that blesses ordinary acts of care, or looking for language that transforms daily choices into revolutionary practice.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Brezsny transforms mundane acts—cooking meals, tending healing hands, rising on quiet mornings—into blessed resistance when performed against the backdrop of collapsing democracy and empire's breakingThe poem's recognition of multiple forms of survival work: preserving stories others would erase, careful documentation of what must not be lost, protecting small and wild things, and building bridges between wounded communitiesWhy "strategic joy deployed against despair" and "kitchen table strategies where sly revolution simmers" reframe pleasure and community care as tactical choices rather than indulgences or distractions from "real" activismThe blessing on sacred rage that fuels redemptive justice, acknowledging that anger at injustice is holy when channeled toward healing rather than destruction, and that sustaining hope when vulgar bullies assault it is itself an act of defianceAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, author, and musician. His weekly horoscope column "Free Will Astrology," formerly "Real Astrology," has been published since 1980, and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals. You can find it here: https://freewillastrology.com/This poem "Blessing" was published on Facebook on March 5, 2025.Connect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast Show NotesEpisode Title:When Ambition Loosens Its Grip: On Aging, Endings, and the Change That Finally Found MeEpisode Description:What happens when the drive that has defined your entire creative life begins to shift — not through loss, but through something quieter and more surprising? In this deeply personal episode of The Writer's Journey, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares an essay born from her own writing class, exploring endings, ambition, and the unexpected season of change that has arrived in her 70th year. This is essential listening for any writer — or human — navigating the tension between who they've always been and who they're becoming.What Laura Covers in This Episode:A stunning excerpt from writer Patti Digh that reframes endings as invitations rather than lossesA writing exercise on endings that Laura uses with her students — and writes herselfA candid look at the long list of endings Laura has lived through across her lifetimeThe surprising subject that didn't make her initial list — and why it matters most right nowWhat it means when lifelong ambition begins to transform from the inside outHow Laura's relationship to work, time, and creative output has quietly, profoundly changedThe difference between drive disappearing and drive evolvingWhat it looks like to let go of projects, plans, and "should-dos" — with relief instead of guiltWhy open space has become as essential to Laura as the writing and teaching that has shaped her work life for decadesEpisode Highlights:The Endings Exercise — Laura introduces a powerful classroom prompt inspired by Patti Digh's A Geography of Endings that invites writers to inventory the endings they've lived — and discover what wants to be written.A List That Spans a Lifetime — Laura reads from her own wide-ranging list of endings, moving from profound losses to quiet turning points, modeling the vulnerability she asks of her students.The Ending She Didn't See Coming — The subject Laura chose to write about in depth wasn't on her list at all — and it turns out to be the one that illuminates everything.Still Writing, Still Teaching — But Differently — Laura reflects on what she has and hasn't let go of during a period of deep health challenge, and why her two weekly Substack posts never fell away.The Loosening — Laura pinpoints exactly what has changed: not the love of writing or teaching, but something that was always tangled up with it — and the relief of finally setting it down.The New Architecture of a Day — Laura paints a vivid picture of how her mornings have changed, and why open, unscheduled time has become non-negotiable for her creative life.Crossing Things Off — Not Because They're Done — Laura describes a new and deeply satisfying relationship to her to-do list, and what it means to release a plan with grace instead of guilt.A Sea Change, Arriving on Its Own — Laura reflects on how the transformation she sensed coming for years finally arrived — not through effort, but through surrender.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience guiding writers of all levels toward their most meaningful work. She is the author of seven books, including her award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal.Laura hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and the Midweek Pause for Peace, teaches weekly writing classes on Zoom, leads international writing retreats, and publishes The Writer's Journey newsletter on Substack. Her Creative Camino pilgrimage brings writers together on the Camino de Santiago for transformative experiences at the intersection of walking, writing, and community.Resources Laura Mentions:"A Geography of Endings" by Patti Digh (December 2025 Substack post) — https://pattidigh.substack.com/p/a-geography-of-endingsThe Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis — award-winning memoir (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) — https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-starsThe Courage to Heal by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass — available wherever books are sold: https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Heal-Survivors-Sexual-Abuse/dp/0061284335Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women — oceanfront retreat in Santa Cruz, California, June 2026 — https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/A Creative Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago—September 2026 https://lauradavis.net/camino/The Writer's Journey — Laura's Substack newsletter: https://laurasaridavis.substack.comLaura Davis's website — writing classes, books, workshops, and retreats: https://lauradavis.netKey Takeaways from This Episode:Endings are not failures — they are, as Patti Digh writes, invitations that reshape us.The most revealing writing prompt is often the one you least expect. The subject that didn't make Laura's initial list turned out to hold the most truth.Drive and ambition can evolve without disappearing.Open, unstructured time is not wasted time. Spaciousness is not the enemy of productivity — it is the necessary condition for the most meaningful work.Letting go of a project or plan with satisfaction — not guilt — is a skill worth cultivating. Not every idea on the list deserves to be manifested, and recognizing that is a sign of creative maturity, not giving up.Episode Call-to-Action:Try the Endings Exercise yourself. Set a timer for ten minutes and make your own list of endings — big and small, expected and surprising. Let yourself be surprised by what appears. Then choose one and write the story of it in depth. Notice what didn't make your first draft of the list. That might be exactly where to begin.Join Laura in Santa Cruz this June for Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women — a week at a beautiful oceanfront retreat center using story, deep listening, and ritual to welcome change, build resilience, and hold grief and gratitude at the same time. Learn more at  https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/Connect with Laura Davis:Substack Newsletter: The Writer's Journey — essays, poems, nature photos, and moreWebsite: lauradavis.net — writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreatsPodcast: The Writer's Journey with Laura DavisWeekly Series: Midweek Pause for PeaceEvery time you click the heart, leave a comment, or share a post, you're making it easier for new readers to discover The Writer's Journey.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise" - A Celebration of Unbreakable ResilienceEpisode Description:In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares one of Maya Angelou's most powerful poems, "Still I Rise." Laura pairs this triumphant piece with peaceful imagery to offer listeners a moment of inspiration and nervous system regulation. Drawing from her personal experience of hearing Angelou perform this poem, Laura celebrates this timeless work that honors resilience in the face of racism, misogyny, and cruelty.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The power of Maya Angelou's voice and performance style, drawing from Laura's personal experience hearing her performHow "Still I Rise" celebrates unbreakable resilience and determination in the face of systemic oppression and crueltyThe poem's masterful use of natural imagery—dust, tides, moons, suns, and ocean—to convey strength and inevitabilityMaya Angelou's remarkable legacy as a groundbreaking memoirist, poet, performer, and civil rights activistAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About Featured Poet Maya Angelou:A multitalented writer and performer, Maya Angelou is best known for her work as an author and poet. Her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by a Black woman. Some of her famous poems include "Phenomenal Woman," "Still I Rise," and "On the Pulse of Morning," which she recited at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993 and which earned her a Grammy Award. Angelou enjoyed a career as a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor and singer in plays, musicals, and onscreen. In her work as a civil rights activist, she collaborated with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, among others. The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient died in May 2014 at age 86.CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVIS:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasavisdavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

PODCAST SHOW NOTESEpisode Title: Embracing a Different Camino: Six Months of Illness, a Saturday Hike, and a September DreamEpisode Description: In this deeply personal episode of The Writer's Journey, acclaimed teacher and author Laura Davis shares her return to hiking after six months of illness during breast cancer treatment. Midway through radiation, Laura laced up her hiking boots and headed out to one of her favorite Santa Cruz County trails—and began to reimagine what her upcoming Camino de Santiago pilgrimage might look like. This episode is an honest, moving reflection on resilience, acceptance, and the art of meeting each day as it comes.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Her first hike in six months after breast cancer treatment limited her physical activityThe joy and significance of returning to Bryne-Milliron Preserve in Santa Cruz CountyThe origin story of the Creative Camino—how a chance meeting in Peru with artist and guide Brenda Porter sparked a dreamThe long road from idea to reality: how Covid twice derailed the Creative Camino before it finally launched in 2023What makes the Camino de Santiago unlike any other hiking experienceHow illness has fundamentally shifted Laura's relationship to physical goals and personal expectationsHer safety plan for the September 2026 pilgrimage and why she's no longer attached to walking every mileThe deeper lesson the Camino is already teaching her—before she's even stepped on the trailEpisode Highlights:Boots Back On — After six months of illness that reduced her to barely walking around the block, Laura describes the quiet triumph of lacing up her hiking boots and heading out with her wife Karyn, their friend Mary, and their yellow lab Luna for an afternoon hike.Feeling Strength Return — Laura reflects on what it felt like to stop and rest along the trail, yet still feel her body growing stronger beneath her—a powerful moment of embodied hope midway through radiation treatment.A Dream Is Born in Peru — Laura recounts the 2017 Sacred Valley retreat where she first met Brenda Porter, an artist and skilled guide whose on-the-go watercolor practice captivated her and sparked the idea for a writing and art pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago.Covid and Cancellations — Laura describes the painful process of canceling the Creative Camino twice due to the pandemic, finally launching the first successful pilgrimage in 2023—and why the wait made it all the more meaningful.Walking Across a Country — Laura captures what sets the Camino apart from any other hike: the experience of walking through farmland, villages, and cities alongside pilgrims from around the world, all moving toward the same sacred destination.The Van Will Be There — Laura explains the logistical safety net built into the Creative Camino—luggage transport and support vans that meet pilgrims at key stops—and how this year, for the first time, she's genuinely grateful it exists.A Different Kind of Attachment — In one of the episode's most reflective moments, Laura shares the shift in her relationship to achievement: where she once insisted on walking every single mile, she now finds peace in meeting each day as it comes.In Training — Laura declares herself officially in training for the September 2026 Camino pilgrimage—not with bravado, but with quiet, hard-won determination.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers transform their lives into powerful, personal stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal.Laura hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and teaches weekly writing classes via Zoom, leads international writing retreats. Her work sits at the intersection of craft, healing, and the courage to tell the truth on the page.Key Takeaways from This Episode:Resilience is built one small step at a time. After six months of illness, Laura's return to hiking began not with a grand gesture but with a single Saturday afternoon walk. Writers and pilgrims alike are reminded that the journey back to ourselves often starts smaller than we expect.Meeting each day as it comes is a practice, not a personality trait. Laura describes learning—by necessity—to assess her energy and capacity day by day rather than committing to fixed plans. This is as true for creative practice as it is for physical endurance.Dreams worth having are worth waiting for. The Creative Camino took six years from concept to reality, surviving two pandemic cancellations. Laura's story is a reminder that meaningful creative endeavors often require patience and persistence.Community transforms experience. Whether on the Camino trail or in a writing classroom, Laura consistently points to an intimate writing community at the heart of the experience.Letting go of attachment to outcomes opens new possibilities. Laura's willingness to walk as far as she can—and accept a ride if she can't—models a form of self-compassion that is available to all of us.Connect with Laura Davis:Website: https://lauradavis.net/Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Weekly Zoom writing classes: visit https://lauradavis.net/ for detailsCamino de Santiago pilgrimage: September 2026 — details at https://lauradavis.net/camino/The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Oksana Maksymchuk's Arguments for Peace: Poetry on Denial, Cognitive Dissonance, and Living Through WarEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Ukrainian poet Oksana Maksymchuk's haunting poem that captures the psychological reality of denial as ordinary life continues against a backdrop of impending war. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this powerful work, Laura explores how we navigate the cognitive dissonance between daily routines and rapid-fire cruelty in our world. This episode offers support for anyone processing the tension between normalcy and crisis, seeking poetry that names collective denial, or looking for language that holds the contradictions of living in uncertain times.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How denial functions as a psychological mechanism when we maintain normal routines—cobblestone streets, festive celebrations, children sledding—while ignoring warnings of imminent dangerThe cognitive dissonance of dipping noses in whipping cream while pretending not to notice phones lighting up with foreign leaders warning of invasionWhy we construct arguments against reality based on what we have to lose: our happy lives, our beloved children, our cherished homes, believing our love will protect us from what's comingThe universal human tendency to believe "it couldn't be" and "war wouldn't dare come" even as evidence mounts, and how this poem holds a mirror to our own denialsAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Oksana Maksymchuk is a bilingual Ukrainian American poet, scholar, and translator. She is the author of the poetry collections Xenia and Lovy, in Ukrainian. She coedited Words for War: New Poems from Ukraine, an anthology of contemporary poetry, and has published several single-author volumes of translations. Born and raised in Lviv, Ukraine, she has also lived in Chicago, Philadelphia, Budapest, Berlin, Warsaw, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. She currently teaches at the University of Chicago.Connect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Fear Isn't a Stop Sign—It's a Doorway: Graseilah Coolidge on How Forest Immersion Could Build World PeaceEpisode Description:In this inspiring episode of The Writer's Journey, host Laura Davis highlights the groundbreaking work of Graseilah Coolidge, a former intelligence analyst turned forest immersion guide who believes that the path to world peace begins in the quiet embrace of nature.Laura shares how she discovered Graseilah's transformative practice of forest immersion and explores the powerful insights from Graseilah's TEDx talk, "How Forests Can Shape the Future of Peace."From her background in nuclear disarmament and international conflict resolution to her profound revelation in California's redwood forests, Graseilah's journey demonstrates how inner peace can ripple outward to create global change.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How Laura met Graseilah Coolidge while co-leading writing retreats in Tuscany and developed a friendship through forest hikesGraseilah's fascinating background as a former intelligence analyst with expertise in nuclear disarmament and conflict resolutionThe definition and practice of forest immersion: spending multiple days and nights alone in the forest with minimal provisions, supported by communityGraseilah's transformative experience in California's ancient redwood forests that led her to discover that peace begins withinHow Graseilah moved from traditional diplomacy to forest immersion as a tool for personal growth and global peacebuildingKey insights from Graseilah's TEDx talk "How Forests Can Shape the Future of Peace"Graseilah's vision of guiding world leaders through forest immersions to foster reconciliation, trust, and collaborationHow forest immersion awakens presence, awe, compassion, and belonging—essential qualities for changemakersGraseilah's powerful teaching: "Fear isn't a stop sign—it's a doorway"Laura's personal decision to participate in her first forest immersion in California's redwood forestsEpisode Highlights:The Tuscany Connection: Laura describes meeting Graseilah Coolidge while co-designing writing retreats at a stunning Tuscan villa complete with peacocks, olive orchards, and gourmet meals, finding in Graseilah a work partner who is capable, dedicated, hard-working, committed, reliable, and fun.Discovering Forest Immersion: During one of their regular forest hikes with Laura's dog Luna, Graseilah introduces Laura to the concept of forest immersion—spending days and nights alone in the forest with just a sleeping bag and water, supported by community, for profound communion with self and nature.From Intelligence to Inner Peace: Graseilah's fascinating background as a former intelligence analyst with a master's degree in nuclear disarmament and conflict resolution, and how she discovered the limits of traditional diplomacy in creating lasting peace.The Redwood Revelation: Graseilah's transformative experience spending days alone in California's ancient redwood forests without food or shelter led her to a profound truth: peace begins within, not in negotiation rooms."Fear Isn't a Stop Sign—It's a Doorway": When Laura expresses her fear about trying forest immersion, Graseilah offers this powerful reframe that becomes the episode's central theme, demonstrating how we can transform resistance into opportunity.Forest Immersion as Peacebuilding: Graseilah's vision of using forest immersions with world leaders as a tool for fostering reconciliation, trust, and collaboration—moving beyond traditional diplomatic approaches to create lasting change.The Power of Presence and Awe: How Graseilah's forest immersion practice awakens presence, awe, compassion, and belonging—gifts that empower people to reclaim their agency as changemakers and heal themselves and their communities.A TEDx Talk Worth Watching: Laura enthusiastically recommends Graseilah's TEDx talk "How Forests Can Shape the Future of Peace," describing it as powerful, profound, and spirit-lifting during times when thinking about the world can feel depressing.You can watch Graseilah's TedX talk here:https://youtu.be/mvyG_URZEr8?feature=sharedAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience guiding writers through transformative creative journeys. Her award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars" won the prestigious BookLife Prize in 2021, cementing her reputation as both a masterful storyteller and an expert in the craft of personal narrative.Throughout her distinguished career, Laura has led writing workshops and international retreats, helping countless writers find their authentic voices and tell their most important stories.Her approach combines deep compassion with practical expertise, creating safe spaces for exploration and emergence. Laura's teaching emphasizes the connection between personal transformation and creative expression, and she is deeply interested in contemplative practices and experiences that take people to their inner edges.Resources Laura Mentions:People:Graseilah Coolidge - Forest immersion guide, former intelligence analyst, international conflict resolution expert with master's degree in nuclear disarmament.TEDx Talks:"How Forests Can Shape the Future of Peace" by Graseilah Coolidgehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvyG_URZEr8Information about Graseilah Coolidge and the upcoming forest immersionshere:https://epicgatherings.com/immersion/Key Takeaways from This Episode:Reframe Fear as Opportunity: Graseilah's teaching that "fear isn't a stop sign—it's a doorway" offers a powerful way to approach transformative experiences and personal growth. What we resist often holds the greatest potential for change.Peace Begins Within: Traditional diplomacy and policy have limits. Graseilah's work demonstrates that lasting peace in the world must start with cultivating inner peace, presence, and compassion through deep connection with ourselves and nature.Nature as a Teacher for Leaders: Forest immersion offers world leaders and changemakers a unique opportunity to step away from negotiation rooms and strategy sessions, allowing the natural world to awaken qualities essential for reconciliation and collaboration.Embrace Radical Unplugging: True transformation requires complete disconnection from distractions. Spending intentional, uninterrupted time in wild places with minimal provisions allows deeper wisdom to surface and profound shifts to occur.Community-Supported Solitude: Forest immersion isn't about isolation—it's about being held by community while going deep into solitude. This combination of support and space creates safety for exploring our inner edges and emerging transformed.Connect with Laura DavisSubscribe to The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis on your favorite podcast platformJoin Laura's Substack community for regular posts, curated poems, nature photography, and essays on writing and lifeVisit Laura's website to explore her books, classes, and retreat offeringsFollow Laura's work to stay updated on her forest immersion experience and other adventures.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:James Crews' "Interwoven": A Meditation on Grief and JoyEpisode Description:In this Midweek Pause for Peace episode, host Laura Davis shares acclaimed poet James Crews' "Interwoven," a profound meditation on how grief and joy arrive together in our lives. Through poetry paired with peaceful imagery, Laura offers listeners a moment of reflection for both heart and nervous system.What Laura Covers in This Episode:The essential truth that grief and joy cannot be separated—they arrive together like inseparable companions in our emotional livesUnderstanding why we cannot sort our emotions like picking stones from lentils, and what wisdom comes from accepting their simultaneous presenceHow poetry creates space for processing complex emotions and finding meaning in life's contradictionsThe practice of intentional midweek pauses that honor our need for beauty while supporting nervous system regulationAbout Featured Poet James Crews:James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR's Morning Edition.James is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry—The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment—and a book of short essays, Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection. James speaks and leads workshops on kindness, mindfulness, and writing for self-compassion. He lives with his husband on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont.Connect with James Crews: Read his work on Substack and learn more about his books and teaching: https://jamescrews.comAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVIS:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Join Laura on the Camino de Santiago next September: https://lauradavis.net/camino/Subscribe here: https://laurasavisdavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:When Your Body Finally Speaks: A Story of Healing and Learning to Listen at 69Episode Description:In this deeply vulnerable episode of The Writer's Journey, acclaimed memoir writing teacher Laura Davis shares an extraordinary letter—written from her body to her mind. After months of health challenges including breast cancer and diverticulitis, Laura gave her body a voice, and what emerged was raw, honest, and illuminating. Her body speaks about being ignored for decades, about the breaking point that finally arrived, and about what true healing requires. This is Laura's personal story of confronting "mind over matter" patterns at age 69 and discovering that slowing down isn't weakness—it's wisdom. At the end, Laura invites listeners to try the same practice if it calls to them.What Laura Covers in This Episode:Laura's personal letter from her body addressing recent breast cancer and chronic diverticulitisHow her body has been "screaming" for attention through inflamed colon, emergency room visits, and surgeryThe decades-long pattern of pushing through pain and dissociating from physical needsWhy her body reframes health crises as "wake-up calls" rather than catastrophesThe frank acknowledgment that there are no quick fixes for deep healing workDrawing strength from healing childhood sexual abuse at 27 and co-authoring "The Courage to Heal"What her body sees as resources at 69: humor, community, self-care skills, and playfulnessThe radical practice of keeping her calendar empty and making decisions based on daily energyAn invitation for listeners to let their own bodies speak if they feel called to tryAbout Host Laura DavisLaura Davis is an acclaimed memoir writing teacher and author with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful personal narratives. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars" (BookLife Prize Winner 2021) and co-author of the international bestseller "The Courage to Heal", which has guided hundreds of thousands of sexual abuse survivors through their healing journeys. Laura teaches weekly Zoom memoir writing classes, leads international writing retreats at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, California, and publishes The Writer's Journey newsletter on Substack. Her teaching emphasizes writing as a transformative tool for self-discovery, healing, and growth. At 69, Laura is navigating breast cancer treatment and chronic digestive issues while continuing to share her wisdom about aging, resilience, and the power of listening to our bodies.Resources Laura Mentions"The Courage to Heal" by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass - International bestseller supporting sexual abuse survivors, written after Laura's own healing journey beginning at age 27"The Burning Light of Two Stars" by Laura Davis - Award-winning memoir exploring mother-daughter relationships (BookLife Prize Winner 2021)Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women - Seven-day immersive workshop at Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, California (June 1-7, 2026) focused on resilience, navigating change, and embracing life with four master teachersKey Takeaways from This EpisodeYour Body May Be Speaking Louder Than You Think: Physical symptoms—whether digestive issues, pain, exhaustion, or illness—may be your body's escalating attempts to get your attention about patterns that are no longer sustainable."Mind Over Matter" Has Limits: Pushing through, dissociating from physical needs, and ignoring exhaustion may work for years or decades, but eventually the body demands a different approach. Recognizing this pattern is the first step toward change.Health Crises Can Be Wake-Up Calls, Not Just Catastrophes: Reframing illness or physical breakdown as an opportunity to heal deeper patterns—not just an inconvenience to fix—opens the door to more profound transformation and self-care.Quick Fixes Rarely Address Root Causes: The search for the perfect doctor, diet, supplement, or treatment often masks the need for fundamental lifestyle changes, rest, and addressing what you've never fully tended to.Your Healing History Is Your Foundation: If you've navigated difficult healing journeys before—whether from trauma, illness, or major life transitions—you've already developed the resilience, commitment, and tools you need for current challenges. Draw on what you know about yourself as a survivor.Connect with Laura DavisSubscribe to The Writer's Journey Newsletter: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ (receive essays on writing and life, poetry, nature photography, and healing reflections)Explore Laura's Classes, Books, and Retreats: https://lauradavis.net/Join Laura's Weekly Zoom Memoir Writing Classes: Visit her website for current class offerings and schedulesRegister for Flourishing as We Age Retreat: June 1-7, 2026 at Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, California (a seven-day immersive experience for women navigating life's next chapters)Listen to The Writer's Journey Podcast: Available on all major podcast platformsLeave a Comment: Share your own experiences with body-mind dialogue on Laura's Substack postsThe Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Alison Luterman's "The Great Rift Valley, Kenya" – A Midweek Pause for PeaceEpisode Description:In this Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis pairs Alison Luterman's contemplative poem "The Great Rift Valley, Kenya" with breathtaking safari photography from Tanzania's Great Rift Valley. This episode offers listeners a moment of reflection on our human journey, our connection to ancestral origins, and the beauty of the natural world, creating space for both heart and nervous system to rest.You can see the images that go with this audio post here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/6a4b00e6-ae56-4a82-9290-9d9af86b648fWhat Laura Covers in This Episode:The intersection of tourism and ancestral connection in Africa's Great Rift Valley, where human origins meet modern travelHow poetry can transport us beyond the superficial aspects of experience to touch something deeper and more meaningfulThe theme of disconnection from our shared human origins and the natural world that nurtured our earliest ancestorsVisual poetry through the pairing of Luterman's reflective verse with stunning wildlife and landscape photography from East AfricaAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Alison Luterman is a poet, essayist and playwright. Her books include the poetry collections In the Time of Great Fires (Catamaran Press), Desire Zoo (Tia Chucha Press), The Largest Possible Life (Cleveland State University Press), See How We Almost Fly (Pearl Editions), and a collection of essays, Feral City (SheBooks). Luterman's plays include Saying Kaddish With My Sister, Hot Water, Glitter and Spew, Oasis, Touched, and the musicals The Chain (with composer Loren Linnard), The Shyest Witch (with composer Richard Jennings), and song cycle We Are Not Afraid of the Dark (with composer Sheela Ramesh).Connect with Alison Luterman: https://www.alisonluterman.com/CONNECT WITH LAURA DAVIS:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasavisdavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

A Photo a Day Keeps Despair at Bay: The Power of a 100-Day Creative ChallengeEpisode Description:In this episode of The Writer's Journey, acclaimed author and writing teacher Laura Davis shares the story of her 100-day photography challenge—a daily creative practice that has become a surprising source of joy, presence, and connection. Laura explores how committing to one tiny beautiful thing each day, with the support of an accountability partner, can transform the way we see the world and sustain us through even the most demanding seasons of life.Whether looking for a sustainable creative habit, a way to deepen a friendship, or a daily reminder that beauty is everywhere, listeners will find a practical and inspiring model for showing up creatively every single day.NOTE: This post is definitely intended as a photo essay. You can see Laura and Kendra’s. photo conversation here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/14dc28d8-07ed-46a8-8e28-cbc5fea8166bWhat Laura Covers in This Episode:How Laura discovered the 100-Day Project (the100dayproject.org) through Suleika Jaouad's (suleikajaouad.com) creative community and its origins with designer Michael BierutWhy Laura chose photography instead of writing for her creative challengeThe value of having an accountability partner for sustained creative practiceHow Laura's photography skills developed through mentorship with her partner Kendra on the Camino de SantiagoThe three simple rules that make the daily practice sustainable and pressure-freeHow daily photography has shifted Laura's way of seeing the worldWhy creativity, friendship, and community matter more than ever in difficult timesEpisode Highlights:The spark of inspiration: Laura describes hearing about the 100-Day Project at one of Suleika Jaouad's (suleikajaouad.com) monthly creative hours and immediately knowing she wanted to participate.Choosing photography over writing: Despite being a lifelong writer and writing teacher, Laura felt drawn to photography as her creative medium.Finding the perfect partner: Laura reached out to friend Kendra Webster, whose photography talent she'd admired on the Camino de Santiago, to be her daily accountability partner.A lunchtime lesson on the Camino: Laura recounts how Kendra taught her a dozen iPhone camera features over tortilla de patatas at an outdoor café on the pilgrimage trail in Spain.Three simple rules: The challenge requires just one new photo per day with a number and title—and it doesn't have to be a good photo.The range of a daily practice: Some days Laura heads out on long hikes with her dog, carefully composing shots along the beaches and woods of Santa Cruz. Other days, the photo is a sunset from the back porch in pajamas or her dog splayed on the kitchen floor.A practice worth continuing: On Day 43, Laura asked Kendra if they should keep going after 100 days. Kendra's immediate answer was YES.Beauty as a daily choice: Laura reflects on how this practice provides a daily reminder that wonder, awe, and joy still exist—and that seeking them out is something we can't afford not to do.About Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers tell their most important stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner 2021) and the groundbreaking bestseller The Courage to Heal. Laura hosts The Writer's Journey podcast, leads weekly writing classes via Zoom, and conducts international writing retreats, including her upcoming 2026 creative hiking retreat on the Camino de Santiago in Spain (lauradavis.net/camino). Her teaching integrates personal vulnerability with practical craft, drawing on her own lived experience to inspire writers at every stage of their journey.Resources Laura Mentions:The 100-Day Project (the100dayproject.org) – A free, global creative challenge originally created by Michael Bierut, international designer and Yale professor. The next round starts February 22, 2026.Suleika Jaouad (suleikajaouad.com) – New York Times bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning journalist, and creator of The Isolation Journals (theisolationjournals.substack.com). Laura first learned about the 100-Day Project at one of Suleika's monthly creative hours.Design Observer (designobserver.com) – Publication featuring examples of past 100-Day ProjectsLaura's 2026 Camino de Santiago Creative Hiking Retreat(lauradavis.net/camino) Laura is returning to the Camino in 2026 with a new group of pilgrims for writing and watercolor on the pilgrimage trail.Laura's Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.comLaura's website: lauradavis.netKey Takeaways from This Episode:A daily creative practice doesn't have to be big or perfect—the 100-Day Project proves that committing to one tiny beautiful thing each day is enough to shift how you move through the world.An accountability partner adds joy and staying power—having someone to share your daily practice with turns a solo commitment into a meaningful connection.Choose a creative medium that excites you—stepping outside your primary craft can open new ways of seeing and expressing.Simple rules remove pressure and build consistency—one photo, one title, taken that day, no quality bar. That's it.Seeking beauty is not a luxury but a daily practice—in uncertain and demanding times, choosing to notice what's beautiful is an act of resilience and creative renewal.Episode Call-to-Action:Ready to start your own daily creative challenge?The next round of The 100-Day Project (the100dayproject.org) begins February 22, 2026—but you can start anytime. Sign up and join thousands of creatives worldwide.Your project doesn't have to be photography: choose any creative act you can commit to for 100 days. A sketch, a haiku, a voice memo, a walk.And if this episode inspired you, share it with a fellow creative who could use a reminder that beauty is still everywhere—we just have to look for it.Join Laura next September on the Camino de Santiago for 17 days of walking, writing and watercolor in a group of supportive fellow pilgrims. www.lauradavis.net/caminoConnect with Laura Davis:Substack: laurasaridavis.substack.comWebsite: lauradavis.netPodcast: The Writer's Journey with Laura DavisWriting Classes & Retreats: Visit lauradavis.net for information on weekly Zoom classes, workshops, and international retreats including the 2026 Camino de Santiago Creative Hiking Retreat (lauradavis.net/camino)The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title:Carolyn Forché's On Living in the Hour of Cities Under Siege: Poetry of Witness, Resistance, and Standing Against InjusticeEpisode Description:In this episode of Midweek Pause for Peace, host Laura Davis shares Carolyn Forché's powerful and urgent poem that addresses immigration enforcement, state violence, and community resistance. Through carefully selected imagery paired with this essential work of witness poetry, Laura honors the role of artists in times of political crisis. This episode offers support for anyone processing current events, seeking poetry that speaks truth to power, or looking for language that fuels resistance while providing community and solidarity.What Laura Covers in This Episode:How artists and writers fulfill their essential role during political crisis by creating work that educates, inspires resistance, and refuses despairThe power of "poetry of witness" to document injustice, immigration raids, and state violence while affirming our shared humanity across borders and identitiesWhy communities create barricades of care—bringing food to front lines, offering shelter, and building networks of protection—as acts of resistance and solidarityThe practical preparations Forché names for cities facing authoritarian tactics: gas masks, emergency contacts, knowing who will search if you disappear, and the moral imperative to hide those who need protectionAbout Host Laura Davis:Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience helping writers craft powerful, authentic stories. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars," which won the BookLife Prize in 2021. Laura is also co-author of the groundbreaking book "The Courage to Heal."Through her Midweek Pause for Peace podcast series, Laura pairs carefully selected poetry with peaceful imagery to support listeners' emotional wellness and nervous system regulation.Each week, host Laura Davis pairs beautiful imagery with meaningful poetry, offering listeners a respite for both heart and nervous system. These midweek pauses provide essential moments of reflection, healing, and inspiration in our complex world.Perfect for: Anyone seeking Laura Davis' signature blend of poetry and peace, those managing stress and anxiety, and listeners who appreciate thoughtful, heart-centered content.About the Featured Poet:Carolyn Forché (born 1950) is an American poet, translator, and human rights advocate best known for coining the term "poetry of witness" and for work that addresses political trauma and human suffering. Her poetry collections include Gathering the Tribes (1976), winner of the Yale Younger Poets Prize; The Country Between Us (1981), drawing from her experiences as a journalist and human rights advocate in El Salvador during the civil war; The Angel of History (1994), which received the Los Angeles Times Book Award; and In the Lateness of the World (2020), a Pulitzer Prize finalist. A University Professor at Georgetown University, she directs the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. "On Living in the Hour of Cities Under Siege" is forthcoming from Otherwhere: New and Selected Poems, 1976-2026, to be published by Scribner Books in September 2026.Connect with Carolyn Forché: https://www.carolynforche.comConnect with Laura Davis:Join Laura's Community: Subscribe to Laura Davis' Midweek Pause for Peace series for consistent, nurturing content that honors both your need for beauty and your nervous system's need for calm.The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully crafted reflections, prompts, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.Subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe