Deepen your practice.
Connect to creation.
Magnify your agency.
Cherish writing’s gifts.
Be a companion on the journey.
Are creativity and spirituality intertwined in your being,
yearning to emerge?
Are you eager to thrive as a writer and grow as a
loving human being?
Do you ache for generative conversations, meaningful connections, and an invigorating writing community?
If so, welcome. This online writing community is for you.
You are invited.
“To name the world as gift is to feel one’s membership in the web of reciprocity. It makes you happy, and it makes you accountable.”
Bring your creativity, doubts, questions, and willingness to connect into an online community that names the world as gift. Creation thrives in a flow of giving and receiving. In this space, we orient our hearts toward the gifts of writing–insight, healing, growth, and meaningful presence. Each of us is a gift to the whole, and our best gifts to others are hearts widened by creativity.
What’s In the Online Writing Community Space?
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Conversation
- Monthly themes like “Welcome Resistance!” and “Blessings in the Mess” to guide the community in writing as a spiritual practice.
- Monthly zoom gatherings
- Space to ask genuine questions, engage in respectful dialogue, receive creative insights, and connect.
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Opportunities
- Weekly zoom co-writing gatherings
- Periodic writing group incubators
- Q&A with Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew
- Weekly invitations to practice gratitude for what’s transpired in our creative lives
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Resources
- Weekly writing prompts and inspiration
- Publishing opportunities, book recommendations
- An ever-growing library of free educational offerings and meaningful conversations with writers
The most important part:
this community is donation based.
Those who gather in the community then share the same foundation. Being in community helps us honor the inner life; writing lets us access, tend, and share that inner life. Together we augment the flow of creativity’s abundant gifts.
This community is not behind a paywall. Instead, entry is contingent on taking a free, short, self-paced course to put you on the same page as other community members. The Gifts of Writing micro-course is free and welcomes writers into a healthy, lively, fruitful, and meaningful writing practice by orienting them to the gift and teaching the fundamentals for flourishing in the gift economy. It’s a prerequisite for entering the Eye of the Heart writing community and should take about 1½ hours.
When we gather, we’ll then share the same foundation for an enriched experience of being in community together.
We’re ready to get started. Are you?
Want a taste of what this community is all about?
Take our free online writing class, The Gifts of Writing Micro-course. This short class will orient you to the gift of writing that you both receive and give as a gift to others. Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, author and writing teacher, will lead you through four short lessons to orient you to a “gift culture” around your writing, and to open you and your writing up for transformation.
Intro to Our Online Writing Community
Watch this video to hear our heart behind this community space we are creating and to see a tour of what will be available to you in it.
Community Guidelines
Our invitation to you for this space is that you enter it with a compassionate heart, open mind, and centered presence. To do so, consider these pillars of our community guidelines:
Meaningful Community
Creativity and Beauty
Integrity through Contemplation
Mystery and Sacred Feminine
Within these values and guidelines, we hope you find the freedom and safety to make connections, inspire and be inspired, be yourself and explore spiritual questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Eye of the Heart Writing Community is an online space to gather writers, whether new, emerging, or experienced, who delight in the holy dimension of creation. Together, we will grow, not just on the page, but in our very beings, so that our stories will be full of truth, aliveness, and wisdom that comes with co-creating a sacred world we inhabit.
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The Eye of the Heart Center is an organization seeking to cultivate a fresh, meaningful, and heart-centered community using vibrant experiences of the arts and grounded contemplative practices to transform both self and world. We believe that community is where transformation happens, and we’re committed to hosting conversations, learning opportunities, and small groups to deepen creative and spiritual practices—both in-person in the Twin Cities and online.
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Writers of all stripes are welcome to join our community, with the commitment and willingness to engage in an open and inclusive community centered around the intersection of our creativity, spirituality, and humanity.
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No, this writing community is donation-based. Instead of a paywall, we’ve chosen to craft a mini-course that all who would like to join will be required to take (asynchronously). This course helps community members share a foundational understanding of creativity's flow of gifts. You'll be asked to make a donation upon entering the community.
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We want no barriers for writers who need a safe and inclusive environment to tend the spiritual dimension of their writing. While we will never force anyone to give in order to remain in the community space, we do depend on your donations to make these opportunities available. We recommend a monthly gift of $10-30. The current commercial value of this community is $45/mo.
There will also be opportunities to purchase classes within the free space, as another dimension in which to grow your writing and to support Eye of the Heart and the gift of our writing community.
Eye of the Heart Center’s vision is to cultivate a fresh, meaningful, and heart-centered community using vibrant experiences of the arts and grounded contemplative practices to transform both self and world.
We believe that community is where transformation happens, and we’re committed to hosting conversations, learning opportunities, and small groups to deepen creative and spiritual practices—both in-person in the Twin Cities and online.
