What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul [Hardcover]

Oriah Mountain Dreamer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2005

In her previous books, Oriah Mountain Dreamer has challenged readers to live with passion and honesty, to embrace the true, fallible, human self. What We Ache For is a moving and eloquent call to delve deeply into our creative selves, to do our creative work, and offer it to the world.

The creative process is essential to human nature. It is as essential as spirituality and sexuality, and in fact all three are deeply intertwined. What We Ache For is a practical book allowing readers to embrace the urgency and necessity of their creativity, whatever their medium -- writing, painting, sculpture, dance, music, or film. As Oriah says, "Doing creative work allows us to follow the thread of what we ache for into a deeper life, offering us a way to cultivate a life of making love to the world."

Following Oriah through this journey in such chapters as "The Seduction of the Artist," "Learning to See," and "Risk and Sacrifice," What We Ache For challenges and inspires readers to fully embrace their artistic selves as a way of forging a path of spiritual unfolding.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I am drawn to write not because I think the creative process will bring me happiness, but because when I write I am happy." So admits Oriah Mountain Dreamer, writer, artist, workshop and retreat leader. Sharing more than a handful of deeply personal experiences, she demonstrates the intrinsic connection between creativity, spirituality and sexuality, which she defines as "an awareness of and appreciation for our physical life and a material reality alive with sensual detail." While most of her examples discuss the process of writing, she carefully includes all forms of creativity—from dance to music to physical art. A ready-made audience familiar with her bestselling titles (The Invitation, The Dance and The Call) will welcome her latest offering. New readers, artists or not, will find a variety of treasures within this volume: the suggested contemplations, warm-up or writing exercises or even just her personal struggles as a creator. Many may breathe a sigh of relief when given permission to end a thought mid-sentence if it's going nowhere; may not realize that they're stifling creativity if they're trying to create in the same place they pay their bills; may not admit that creative people must cultivate "necessary silence." Those looking to refresh their spirit, revive their creativity or merely get to know themselves better should spend some time with this book. (May)

From Booklist

Mountain Dreamer begins this smoothly written guide to spiritual richness via creativity by defining our essential human nature and capacity for awareness via spirituality, sexuality in the broadest sense of interconnectedness with all life forms, and creativity, "the soul-deep impulse . . . to go beyond the perceptions of the senses to the conception of something new." The author of the well-known creativity titles The Invitation (1999), The Dance (2001), and The Call (2003) speaks throughout of creative work as the unpredictable and the open-ended, inviting readers to cultivate the creative while integrating it with their sensual and sacred natures. To focus intent while letting go is the lesson, and to that end she follows each chapter with thought-provoking inquiries, practical suggestions for producing creative work, and writing exercises. Mountain Dreamer's deceptively simple writing style makes major creativity aids accessible to a wide variety of readers. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060011963
• ISBN-13: 978-0060011963
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oriah is the author of the inspirational prose poem and international bestselling book The Invitation as well as the bestsellers The Dance and The Call. Her writing sets forth in detail how we can follow the thread of our heart's longing into a life of meaning and purpose. Her latest book, What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul, explores creativity as a way of accessing and cultivating a spiritually rich life. Oriah is the mother of two grown sons. She lives with her husband, Jeff, several hours north of Toronto in a home surrounded by forest stillness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Searching to improve creativity, April 7, 2005

By 

Evelyn D. Cruze "evwings" (Crescent City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul (Hardcover)

In her latest book, the author of "The Invitation" encourages readers - no matter their form of creativity - to look deep into themselves to do what they ache to really accomplish. She proposes by searching our soul, our creativity improves, freeing us.

Each chapter shows the reader how Oriah came to these things herself. At the end there are three types of exercises. There is thinking, how, and doing. Some of these I have seen in other books on writing, but the author acknowledges each of us has our own path to unfolding our souls. By doing so, we are able to delve deep within, create, and share.

I really would have loved to give this book the top rating, but I couldn't. To be honest, I felt the author spent too much time discussing her own journey into searching for what she aches for rather than concentrating on helping the reader discover their own way. As a reader if you are wanting a spiritual book on how creative work unfolds the soul - as the title implies - you may wish to look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are looking for ways to think and work on your creativity to accomplish goals, this might be the book for you and I recommend it highly.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Concept and Exercises, but Difficult to "Translate", January 13, 2006

By 

BetterPhotoJim "Author of 'The BetterPhoto Gu... (Redmond, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul (Hardcover)

As someone who is lucky enough to make my creative work my life's work, I was very interested to see what this book had to say. The concept of being true to one's creative process is important to me and I liked the idea of this book, but the execution was somewhat lacking. The narrative was interesting, but often I had a hard time connecting with her experiences and translating them to my life. The exercises at the end of each chapter, however, were very useful and thought-provoking. A good book to help restart or rejuvenate anyone's creative process, and an interesting way to look at what creativity means in a person's life.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muse, July 18, 2006

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul (Hardcover)

One of the problems for an artist who wants to develop his or her creativity is knowing what creativity is. Some hope to lure a bolt from the blue that will change their view of the world. What they are probably looking for is inspiration.

Most of the books on creativity don't even notice the difference between creativity and inspiration. Add to that that many of the creativity books seem to believe that artists are not creative because of psychological hang-ups and you begin to see the problems an artist may have in working on creativity.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer is a writer who also has spent time as a facilitator and workshop instructor. I was a little reluctant to read this book because the title sounded so mystical. Well, the book is a bit mystical because the author believes in the strong connections between our sexuality, spirituality and creativity. But, surprisingly to me, the book is filled with practical information to help artists explore their creativity.

To the author creativity is finding the way to look at what we know from a new direction or without our preconceived notions. Or to quote a wonderful expression that overuse has turned trite, "thinking outside the box." It means trying to expand the way we see the world, by exploring our experiences at a deeper level, or even more playfully. For example she describes seeing a sign saying "Angels Flight Railway" and wondering where angels would flee and what they would be fleeing from. The author doesn't give us a key to a door in our mind but suggests that we may be able to find a lever.

The book is full of good practical advice, like telling the artist to find a special place to do his or her work, or learning to put aside time that is unscheduled. Some of these elements seem obvious but for me it was useful to hear her suggestions.

Each chapter includes exercises to do. The reader may shy away from them, but they are worth trying. Thinking about which year of your life you would wipe out and why and what the effects would be can provide you with an insight into yourself that can help you shape your art.

This is not a great book, but it is full of useful, practical advice. The artist in search of improved creativity will benefit from reading it.