WildhousePublishing

Have you ever heard of a sacred reading practice? Read and save these slides to connect with your favorite book or author, and deepen your spiritual practice. Happy reading!

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.” -Virginia Woolf

Life seldom moves in a straight line. Instead, experience is more closely depicted in the ancient archetypal symbol of the spiral.

Spirals are some of the oldest geometric shapes in artwork dating back thousands of years before writing. The spiral is an ancient intuitive symbol, found in many cultures across the world and reflected in ritual, art, mysticism, and lore throughout history.

There are countless examples of spiral patterns in nature, from whirlpools of water to the double helix structure of DNA, and the archetypal image appears in many, if not all, of the world’s religious traditions, from the twisted pathway of the Kabbalah, to the ancient Celtic mazes and labyrinths, to the yogic kundalini, which rises, spiraling through the body in a series of seven energy centers or chakras.

It can be a useful spiritual practice to pay attention to the spiraling energy of your own life and creative work. Spirals pattern our world, uniting nature and culture, appearing as an eternal, creative organizing principle. How is the energy of the spiral showing up in your life and creative process? Which part of the shape are you currently journeying through?

you can’t put a book down. Wesley Wildman’s The Winding Way Home interweaves trauma and transcendental beauty, making room to feel it all. Available soon.

you can’t put a book down.

"Our lives are like those loaves in some way. We are kneaded, patted, pushed, and pulled into a variety of shapes."
- "The Therapy of Breadbaking," from Beauty in the Ordinary.

A lot of us learned about the therapeutic benefits of baking bread during the first COVID lockdown of 2020. What did breadbaking teach you? Explore more breadbaking wisdoms in Beauty in the Ordinary, available now.

Do you identify as spiritual but not religious? At Wildhouse, it is our mission to support and enliven the spiritual journeys of people outside or on the margins of established religious traditions. Learn more: www.wildhousepublications.com

"For this episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I was excited to speak with Peg about her most recent book, Higher and Friendly Powers, a compulsively readable, clear, and humane exploration of the notion of “Higher Powers,” using the philosopher and psychologist William James as a guide. It’s great fun. I hope you enjoy."

Check out Wildhouse author Peg O'Connor on this episode of Carl Erik Fisher's Flourishing after Addiction podcast!

https://www.carlerikfisher.com/flourishing/ep17

The Winding Way Home by Wesley J. Wildman (forthcoming from Wildhouse Publications) is a captivating novel about family, grief, and the power of love, interspersed with gems (like this one!) of spiritual and existential wisdom. You won't be able to put it down.

To learn more: https://thewindingwayhome.com/

Check out this interview with brilliant Wildhouse author Peg O'Connor on the Avoiding the Addiction Affliction, a podcast through .

https://kcsac.libsyn.com/higher-and-friendly-powers-with-peg-oconnor-phd

Listen on spotify, apple music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Peg O’Connor is a recovering alcoholic who maintains that philosophy got and helped her to stay sober.

Avoiding Alcoholics Anonymous for the first 20 years of her sobriety because of the concept of a “higher power,” her work uses the great canonical thinkers in western philosophy to illuminate dimensions of addiction.

She understands addiction as a meaning of life problem and no discipline is as well suited as philosophy to address meaning of life questions.

Peg's new book, Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering, is now available for pre-order: https://tinyurl.com/28k4xb22

“Side by side we watch this new summer day blossom into beauty even as it leads us through the stations of agony. We know the rhythm so well but familiarity and repetition never mute the pain. Not even love mutes this pain. But love has surely transformed us, the sorry souls who live in pain.”
— The Winding Way Home

In "The Winding Way Home," (available soon), Wesley Wildman offers a profoundly humane and hopeful vision of the goodness that can arise out of the dark night of the soul.

Learn more: https://thewindingwayhome.com

Beauty in the Ordinary illuminates the existential depth and profound beauty of everyday life. In it, Rev. Samuel Johnson Lindamood Jr. communicates his playful, realistic, humane, and deeply hopeful perspective on modern life.

Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/3dwtbv7h

Dr. Peg O'Connor's fantastic new book, Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering, is now available for pre-order!

Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering An expansive alternative for those who have struggled with the "higher power" of AA's 12-step program, Higher and Friendly Powers offers a sense of human decency, moral ideals, and even a better version of oneself. In Higher and Friendly Powers, Peg O'Connor addresses an audience much like herself:....

"Each person can define his, her, or their own recovery. A person’s definition of this may change over time, which should be expected. We need to be nimble in our recovery because we are always changing, which means our needs change too."

Check out Wildhouse author Peg O'Connor in Authority Magazine on How to Achieve Great Success after Recovering from an Addiction!

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/peg-oconnor-on-how-to-achieve-great-success-after-recovering-from-an-addiction-fed5cbff5004

Peg O’Connor on How to Achieve Great Success after Recovering from an Addiction An Interview With Tyler Gallagher

Wise words from writer, minister, and Wildhouse acquisitions editor Suzanne Woolston Bossert. Wildhouse acquisitions editors specialize in supporting authors. They are companions, walking with writers as they refine and realize their unique visions. Learn more and read Suzanne’s wonderful blog post “Disruption is a Doorway to Creative Transformation,” here: https://wildhousepublications.com/2022/01/04/disruption-is-a-doorway-to-creative-transformation/

"As James argues, we are always in process. Our material, social, and spiritual selves constantly change. We see changes in others and ourselves as we dry out, sober up, and start to live a life of sobriety. These changes can be significant. Recovery must remain responsive to these changes. If not, then one may be seeking stability in rigidity."

"Each of us will experience earthquakes in our own lives. If our stability is founded on flexibility rather than resistance, we have a better chance of weathering those earthquakes."

Check out Wildhouse author Dr. Peg O'Connor on USA Wire talking about stability and flexibility in addiction recovery!

Stability in Recovery from an Addiction Life in recovery is easier in many ways because alcohol, drugs, and other addictive behaviors are not contributing to the madness.

In her forthcoming book "Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering," Peg O’Connor addresses an audience a lot like herself: those in recovery who have struggled with the Christian-centric God at the heart of Alcoholics Anonymous and its 12 Steps. To do so, Peg acts as a field guide through the life and philosophy of William James, whose conception of the popular concept of "higher power" was originally way more expansive than we might imagine. Learn more: http://ow.ly/A0BJ50Jk3gp

Who is our audience here at Wildhouse? Some of them are spiritual but not religious. Some of them are spiritual atheists and agnostics. Some of them are on the margins of a religious community. Some of them fit traditional religion just fine but are hungry for more. Books from Wildhouse Publications evoke the existential depths of ordinary life for unconventional people on a spiritual journey.

Have you ever reached out to "a something More"? These wise words are from Peg O'Connor's forthcoming book Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering. Learn more: http://ow.ly/MtsV50Jh8Vw

Wildhouse acquisitions editors are partners for authors. They specialize in supporting authors through visioning, proposal advising, manuscript coaching, and developmental editing. They are companions, walking with writers as they refine and realize their visions. Learn more about the process: http://ow.ly/eOXR50Jg8P8

Do you know how to reach out beyond yourself? These wise words are from Dr. Peg O'Connor's forthcoming book, "Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering." Learn more: http://ow.ly/68kJ50JexUK

Wildhouse Publications exists to support the spiritual quests of people outside or on the margins of established religious traditions.

What does it feel like to be on a spiritual journey without the support, counsel, and companionship that traditional religious and spiritual communities provide?

"It feels like tears of frustration and longing, and occasionally glimmers of hope and sparkles of joy that flower into ecstatic dancing" says publisher Wesley Wildman. "Wildhouse Publications exists to ease the pain and amplify the sparkles and dancing." To learn more, read his blog post, "Meet the Wildhouse Audience" here: http://ow.ly/fGf950JcjvV

Do you know what it feels like to be "wrapped round with friendliness?" Learn how the philosophy of William James can enhance your life in Peg O'Connor's forthcoming book, Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering. For more info: http://ow.ly/389O50JaKaU

"The big question of life is how each of us will accept the universe. Will we do so only in part and grudgingly or wholly and heartily?"
- Dr. Peg O'Connor, quoting William James

Peg's beautiful book, Higher and Friendly Powers: Transforming Addiction and Suffering, is forthcoming from Wildhouse Publications in September 2022. Learn more: http://ow.ly/Vi1S50JahJg

Wildhouse Developmental Editor Suzanne Woolston Bossert is a writer, editor, minister, and adventurous explorer of 21st century spirituality. Read the rest of her lyrical and timely essay, Disruption is a Doorway to Creative Transformation, here: http://ow.ly/cnPs50J9kZG

Meditating on this dreamy Annie Dillard quote tonight. What deep longings do you bring to your reading and writing? 🌚🪐💫

The natural world is full of wonder. Tonight we were inspired by this passage from Rachel Carson, marine biologist, conservationist, and writer of stunningly lyrical prose:

“In its mysterious past the ocean encompasses all the dim origins of life and it receives in the end, after many transmutations, the dead husks of that same life. For all at last return to the sea - to Oceanus, the ocean river, like the ever-flowing stream of time, the beginning and the end.”

Saving lives should never be politically controversial, but the virus and it's treatment have been dangerously politicized and the data is starting to show the consequences.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/briefing/covid-cases-rising-red-america.html

Red America’s Covid Problem Cases are rising, because of the Delta variant.

It may seem to some that the is slowly moving into the past, but around the world new variants and concerns regarding tell a different tale.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/29/world/covid-19-vaccine-coronavirus-updates

U.S. Supreme Court Leaves Federal Moratorium on Evictions Intact L.A. County advises masking indoors, even if vaccinated, over variant concerns. There are new lockdowns in Australia and Asia over worries about the Delta variant.