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Mark Nepo

@mark_nepo

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Poet. Author. Spiritual teacher. Storyteller.
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It Matters

It does matter where
we stand. Bluebirds
won’t come, unless
their house is staked
in the open.

It makes me think of
the young man standing
with shopping bags in
front of a tank in
Tiananmen Square.

Or a fierce Rosa Parks
refusing to get off that
bus in Montgomery.

Or when I saw Paul
raise his arms, full face
to the wind, once we
reached the summit.

Or you, facing the truth
of all you’ve been through,
in order to summit your
true self.

We owe thanks to those
who turn and face the river,
for they make the current
sing.

A Question to Walk With: Describe someone you admire for their courage in being visible and clear in how they meet life.

This is from my book of poems in progress, To Open Life Between Us. by @mark_nepo

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an hour ago

"As no one can live without inhaling and exhaling, no one can live without feeling and expressing. The life of expression is how the heart breathes and how our spirit grows in the life that carries it."

Join me for The Life of Expression: Your Life as a Work of Art, a 3-session international webinar hosted by the Center for Mindfulness in Milan. Teachings will be offered in both Italian and English.

Together, we'll explore how feeling, dialogue, and writing, whether through poetry, story, memoir, or reflection, open a necessary conversation with the Universe. This is the conversation that helps us move through obstacles and transitions, and live our lives as a work of art.

November 10, December 15, 2026, and January 26, 2027
1:30-3:30PM EST/7:30-9:30PM Milan Time

All are welcome, wherever you are in the world.

Register at the link in bio or below:
https://satimudita.com/event/the-life-of-expression-your-life-as-a-work-of-art-with-mark-nepo/

@themindfulcloud by @mark_nepo

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2 days ago

Etched

We are so forgetful that only pain makes us remember. Yet here is a scar on my wrist, and I can’t recall how I got it. Am I getting old or is this the miracle of healing? We’ve been told that scars are ugly. I think they’re beautiful traces of how we’re touched by life. To have no blemish means we’ve fallen through time with no meeting. What’s the point? To die unchanged is to be an arrow that never lands.

A Question to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, tell the story of a scar that you carry, physical or emotional.

This is from my book, Things That Join the Sea and the Sky.

Image Credit: Imdad Barbhuyan by @mark_nepo

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7 days ago

Modern Elder Academy | Baja California Sur, Mexico | Feb 8–13, 2027

Set on the Baja coast in El Pescadero, the Modern Elder Academy's beachfront campus offers three pools, an oceanfront yoga platform, a library, an organic garden, and quiet corners for reflection, with mountains behind and the Pacific in front. It is the kind of place that slows you down in the best way.

With The Fifth Season as the heart of the gathering, Mark explores aging as a time of integration, creativity, and deeper presence.

*4 spots now available!

Link in bio or below to join:
https://www.meawisdom.com/workshop/creativity-in-the-second-half-of-life-with-mark-nepo/ by @mark_nepo

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10 days ago

The Wisdom of Strangers

Everywhere I go, I meet people who've travelled on. Like the young man who grew up outside of Dubai. He now drives a taxi in Seattle and tells me that all roads lead to each other. And the mother of three whose father raised cattle in Nebraska. She now owns an apartment building in Austin. She tells me that when she closes her eyes, the openness of all those acres returns to her. We admit we don't know where we're going, but we love being on the way.

There was the lacrosse coach from Wisconsin who told me that Hemingway said that nobility isn't being superior to others but being superior to your former self. I would say this differently. Nobility is the moment of grace, however fleeting, when nothing remains between our soul and the rest of life. Everyone longs for this exquisite rawness, though we fear being this naked. And like the statue of a dog I saw on the Charles Bridge in Prague, that everyone touches as they cross, we shine where we've been touched over the years.

When I listen long enough, everyone starts to reveal their nobility, which has less to do with being superior and more to do with offering the bareness of our being to anyone who needs something solid to lean on.

An excerpt from Things That Join the Sea and the Sky by @mark_nepo

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12 days ago

For the Young
Man at Gate A1

You were helping an older
woman in a wheelchair onto
the plane. I know it’s your
job, but you were so caring.
As we passed, I meant to say,
“Thank you. You’re a kind
man.” But you bent over to
fold the wheelchair and I
hesitated.
I imagine you wondering
how I could know. I would
have said, “I’ve tried my
whole life to be kind. I
can recognize goodness
when I see it.”
I hope you have someone
who can tell you of the
seeds you drop by being
You.

A Question to Walk With: In your journal, describe a kindness you have witnessed and, if you can, tell the person who was kind. Either way, tell the story to someone else, to pass on the seeds of goodness.

This is from my book of poems in progress, Notes of Awe. by @mark_nepo

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14 days ago

On The Art of Living

Mark recently joined writer, speaker, activist, and founder of The Center for Courage and Renewal, Parker J. Palmer in a conversation hosted by Joshua Stenfeld to explore some of the greatest lessons they’ve learned over the course of their lives and careers. Lessons about what it means to live well, to work well, and to relate to each other, and the world, in life-giving ways.

To listen the full episode click the link in bio or below.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/212272/episodes/19681058 by @mark_nepo

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16 days ago

It's all one life, one eternal moment. We are simply the parts that come and go.
Join us in this conversation with Mark Nepo.

Comment "Eternal" to watch the full excerpt. by @mark_nepo

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17 days ago

The Language of the Soul: The Power to Awaken, Connect and Heal
January 10, 17, 24, 2027, 1-2:30PM ET | 10-11:30AM PT
This 3-session webinar will explore uncovering the original meanings of words to help us remember and inhabit what it means to be fully alive.

Register at: live.marknepo.com (or through the link in bio).

In our time together, I invite you to walk with me along a timeless river of understanding, where ancient expressions are reawakened and everyday language is imbued with depth and resonance that can help us live now. For words, when opened with care and wonder, can carry us back to ourselves—and forward into the world with greater compassion, clarity, and grace.

For more than half a century, I’ve been a seeker, a pilgrim, a wanderer, committed to discovering and practicing the art of being human. And over the years, I’ve lost and found my way countless times. In this retreat, I’m eager to share some of what I’ve found along the way. I hope our time together will serve as a comfort and source of strength, and offer you a sense of home in the days ahead.

—Mark Nepo by @mark_nepo

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17 days ago

Something I want to share.
"Bruce and Reva Tift are two wise, gifted therapists, kind and insightful guides. They're leading a sacred barge journey through southeast Asia, Oct 20-30, 2027, centered on An Unconditional Appreciation of Our Very Messy Human Lives. If this speaks to you, it will be one of those once in a lifetime experiences with kindred souls." – Mark

Ten days on the Mekong Delta. Ancient temples, sacred monasteries, and the kind of slow conversations that don't happen anywhere else.
Kay and Franco of Peak Empowerment are hosting, so every detail is in good hands.

Spots are limited. Learn more and reserve yours through the link in bio or below:
https://peakevents.info/bruce-overview/ by @mark_nepo

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19 days ago

Almost There

The first big snow storm cancelled all the flights.
Like refugees, we lined up for word of any way out.
I felt you struggling 140 miles away. In your grief,
you’d been alone too long. I had to get to you. By
the time I reached the counter, no more rental
cars. I called around and found a service to drive
me through the drifting dark. You’d left the lights
on but he couldn’t get up our driveway. He left
me near our dented mailbox. I had snow in my
shoes and you looked worn. I kissed your neck
and we held for a long time. I watched you as we
went to sleep, then fell into a dream. We were on a
raft, being carried by a slow flood. As the sun came
out, we were left on higher ground. Suddenly, the
raft turned into Buckingham Pond where we fell
in love over twenty years ago. We were younger
and you had your head on my lap. This was when
the sun lit your eyes and lips and hair and I said,
“I’ve never been in love like this.” This wasn’t a
memory but time travel during a storm back to
that moment that changed our lives. Then I woke
and you were sleeping next to me, bruised by the
flood, but still beautiful. I lightly touched your
arm, wanting only to be close to you.

A Question to Walk With:
In your journal, tell the story of a time when you gave your all to be there for someone and how that effort affected your relationship?

This is from my book of poems in progress, Elsewhere. by @mark_nepo

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21 days ago

An evening of words worth returning to. Mark Nepo joined longtime friend and Godmothers cofounder Jennifer Rudolph Walsh for a conversation on creativity, friendship, fear, repair, and the stories that shape us.
Here are just a few moments from a night that reminded us of the forever practice of course-correcting and moving toward what is precious. by @mark_nepo

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23 days ago