This is The Adventure with Brad Wetzler, my weekly dispatch about how we can brave the wilderness of these tough, post-modern, hyper-capitalist times…together. It’s about storytelling, healing, adventure, the human heart, and the pursuit of the sacred and the holy, too.
Who am I? I’m the author of the new memoir, Into the Soul of the World: My Journey to Healing, and a longtime journalist with bylines in the New York Times, Newsweek, Wired, GQ, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, and Outside, where I was a senior editor and a longtime contributing editor. I spent fifteen years working as an adventure writer, journalist, and magazine columnist. After a long period of depression and overmedication with prescription drugs, I launched a round-the-world quest to heal body, mind, and spirit—to recover my very soul. You can read all about this journey in Into the Soul of the World. I live in Austin, Texas, where I write books and articles, edit books, and coach aspiring memoirists and nonfiction writers.
Hello, friends,
Austin has finally cooled down, and we are now firmly ensconced in “light sweater weather.” These mild winters are definitely a change from Boulder, Colorado, where I used to live. And yet I do miss the crisp, beautiful Boulder winters, too.
And guess what? I will be back to Boulder in January. Not to live, but to co-lead a two-and-a-half-day writing retreat with my brilliant friend Emily Rapp Black and yoga and meditation teacher Madeleine Tilin.
I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity, and I hope you’ll allow me to tell you about it here.
Your Story Matters: Writing Your Life Story from the Inside Out
Are you tired of those relentless January media messages convincing you that something’s inherently wrong with you? You know the articles and TV spots: the ones that tell you that you aren’t enough, that you must start working your butt off NOW to get a better body, mind, house, partner, LIFE. And if you lose steam or fail, well…
Who would you be if you didn’t believe this pervasive cultural story that something was wrong with you? How would you live your life if you feel that nothing about you, your life, or your body needs to be fixed and improved?
We’ve created Your Story Matters: Writing Your Authentic Life Story from the Inside Out because we know how life-changing reclaiming and loving one’s life story can be.
What is it?:
Your Story Matters is a two-and-a-half-day writing retreat held January 19 thru January 21 in the intimate setting of a beautiful, luxurious home in scenic Boulder, Colorado. The emphasis will be on reclaiming, reframing, and owning your story from the inside out. In other words, writing about our lives with depth, authenticity, and self-compassion. The retreat will also feature gentle movement and breathwork to facilitate both creativity and groundedness.
Who is this retreat for?
This retreat is for anyone who already loves to write memoir and anybody who is curious to learn about how to write about your own life. Beginners are absolutely welcome.
More about this retreat:
Emily and Brad believe writing about our lives transforms us when we write from our deepest, authentic, embodied self. And this happens when one accepts–perhaps even LOVES–oneself and one's life, when one is both intimate and kind to oneself.
We firmly believe that storytelling is a powerful path to self-acceptance. When
we tell our honest, beautiful, messy, true story, we activate this inner knowing—that we are fine, just as we are—and we unlock more self-love and creative flow.
When you see how perfect you and your story already are, you will see your unique path to more joy, meaning, and purpose. And when you share that story in a community with like-minded souls in a safe retreat setting, you make friends that last a lifetime.
So, please join writers Emily Rapp Black and Brad Wetzler and yoga and meditation instructor Madeleine Tilin for 2.5 unforgettable days in Boulder, Colorado.
You'll participate in heart-opening writing exercises, explore soul-searching
journal prompts, and engage in candid, open-hearted sharing in a supportive community of people who believe that the stories we tell ourselves and others matter and that there's no need to wait, improve, or aspire to be perfect. We can write them now: from the inside out.
This is an opportunity for all bodies to let go of the sense of falling short and instead find creative pathways to live in alignment with who you already are.
When: The retreat will be held on Friday, January 19 thru Sunday, January 21. We will hold an opening circle and intention setting ceremony followed by a private reception on Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday will be devoted to learning, writing, journaling, sharing, and gentle movement and breathwork.
Meals: We will have delicious hors d'oevres on Friday evening and healthy, tasty farm-to-table lunches on Saturday and Sunday.
Accommodations: Accommodations are not included in the price of the retreat, and rooms are not available at the "retreat house." But thankfully Boulder has many comfortable hotels only minutes away from the site of the retreat. Options include the luxurious St. Julien Hotel & Spa, the historical Boulderado Hotel, and many moderately priced hotels, including Hyatt Place and Holiday Inn Express.
Price: $890.00
The Teachers:
Emily Rapp Black:
Emily Rapp Black is the author of Poster Child: A Memoir (BloomsburyUSA), The Still Point of the Turning World (Penguin Press), a New York Times bestseller and an Editor’s Pick, Sanctuary, and Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg. A former Fulbright scholar, she was educated at Harvard University, Trinity College-Dublin, Saint Olaf College, and the University of Texas-Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. A Guggenheim Fellow, she has received awards and fellowships from the Rona Jaffe Foundation, the Jentel Arts Foundation, the Corporation of Yaddo, the Fine Arts Work Center, Fundacion Valparaiso, and Bucknell University. She lives in Redlands, California.
Brad Wetzler:
Brad Wetzler is the author of Into the Soul of the World: My Journey to Healing (Hachette, 2023) and Real Mosquitoes Don't Eat Meat: The Best of Outside's "Wildfile." (W.W. Norton, 2005). A former senior editor at Outside and former contributing editor at Outside, National Geographic Adventure, and George, he was educated at Northwestern University, the University of Kansas, and Kings College (London). His travel nonfiction has been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing series and Outside 25: The Best of Outside Magazine's First 25 Years. He has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, Wired, Travel + Leisure, Men's Journal, Outside, among others. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Madeleine Tamayo Tilin:
Madeleine Tamayo Tilin is an seasoned yoga and meditation teacher with 30-plus years of experience as a student and teacher of various yoga traditions, including Kundalini and Hatha yoga. She is a visual storyteller, photographer and studied journalism at the University of Texas, Austin. She is the mother of two children, Isaac (23) and Leila (21). She lives and teaches in Austin, Texas.
We would love to see you in Boulder in January! If you have questions, please email me at brad@bradwetzler.com.
If you haven’t bought my memoir, Into the Soul of the World: My Journey to Healing, yet, I hope you will.
Here’s what author Hampton Sides wrote about it:
“Brad Wetzler has led the very definition of an adventurous life, but in Into the Soul of the World, he gives an unflinching account of his interior adventures. Wetzler’s soulful quest, by turns anguished and transcendent, will resonate with readers around the world who struggle to find purpose and a sense of the holy in the ambient jitter of the digital age.”