Welcome to Enlightened•ish with Brad Wetzler.
“for seekers of purpose, hope, and the holy in this turbulent, tender post-digital age.”
Hi there.
I’m Brad Wetzler, and Enlightened-ish is my weekly dispatch for seekers of purpose, hope, and the holy in this tender, turbulent post-digital age.
Who am I?
I’m an author, journalist (New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, Wired, and Outside, among others), memoir writing teacher, and book writing coach. My memoir, Into the Soul of the World: My Journey to Healing, was published last March by the Hachette Book Group.
For years, I traveled the world as an adventure journalist for major national magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Wired, GQ, National Geographic, Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Outside, Men’s Journal, George, and others.
And then…depression and addiction stole my career, marriage, house, and nearly my life.
Today I’m a seeker of emotional healing, meaning, depth, and soul. I’m also in recovery from addiction, and I’m on a healing journey from PTSD and Complex PTSD.
You can read all about my voyage home in INTO THE SOUL OF THE WORLD: MY JOURNEY TO HEALING ..
“This powerful memoir shares an adventure journalist’s story of a decade-long, round-the-world quest to overcome his drug addiction and to understand and heal from past traumas.
Suffering from PTSD and severe depression from past trauma, battling an addiction to overprescribed psychiatric medication, and at the rock bottom of his career, journalist Brad Wetzler had nowhere to go. So he set out on a journey to wander and hopefully find himself—and the world—again.
Into the Soul of the World is Wetzler’s thrilling, impactful, and heartrending memoir of healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. An adventure journalist at heart, Wetzler mixes travelogue with empowering insights about his inner journey to better care for his own mental health. Journey with him as he travels across Israel and the West Bank, before moving on to India, a candle-lit cave on a mountaintop in the Himalayan foothills, and a life-changing encounter with a 100-year-old yogi.
Wetzler's writing is full of the poignant, amusing, and occasionally heart‑breaking situations that unfold when we finally decide to confront depression (or any mental health struggle) and declare ourselves ready to heal: How do we heal our past and thrive again? What does it mean to live a good life? How can we transform our suffering and serve others? His answer: live to tell the story and find the humility and courage to be the best human you can be.”
I live in Austin, Texas.
In addition to writing, I am a podcaster, public speaker, writing teacher, and book writing coach. I mentor people to write memoir and self-help nonfiction books.
But enough about me…
I write Enlightented-ish for you. What began as an “official author thing to do” has become a community and conversation and heck of a lot of fun.
Subscribers to Enlightened•ish usually hear from me once a week on Saturdays - sometimes more, sometimes less but that’s the plan.
You’ll receive not-available-anywhere-else exclusive essays from me along with weekly features like The Adventure Buzz, where I talk about the books I’m reading and podcasts I’m listening to- and what I really think of them; with inspiring or funny or fierce or heart-centered things I am exploring at the moment; and The Adventure Q and A series where I deep-dive your questions about the journey back to the soul and what I’ve learned on this path; how to write from the soul; and so much more.
I even record the audio reading of some of my essays for The Adventure Podcast.
You will also be the very first ones to hear about any new books, projects, or announcements.
I also do a couple of series every year on themes like how to launch your own pilgrimage for subscribers.
And don’t forget to click through the emails to the comments.
The full year of maximized The Adventure is just $5/month or - good deal alert - $50/year for the entire year of full-strength The Pathless Path.
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