Natalie Goldberg is the author of fifteen books, including Writing Down the Bones (Shambhala, 1986), which has sold over one million copies, has been translated into fourteen languages, and started a revolution in the way we practice writing in this country.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Natalie’s first book, “Chicken and In Love” (1979)
• Being afraid of both success and failure before her book, “Writing Down The Bones,” came out in 1986
• Having thin values
• “I shop therefore I am.” - Barbara Kruger
• Consuming vs. finding meaning
• Natalie writing two books while undergoing treatment for cancer
• Accepting suffering
• Thinking about one’s legacy
• Zen Buddhism
• “Writing closes the gap between who you think you are and who you are.” - Natalie Goldberg
• What writing has revealed to Natalie
• “Make this moment an occasion to live deeply, happily in peace.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
• Managing discursive thoughts
• The pros and cons of the advent of the interview
• The art of haiku writing

People Mentioned:

1. Margaret Atwood (Writer)
2. Amy Tan (Writer)
3. Katagiri Roshi (Sōtō Zen Priest and Teacher)
4. Lidia Yuknavitch (Writer)
5. Barbara Kruger (Artist)
6. Joan Didion (Writer)
7. Viktor Frankl (Neurologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, Writer)
8. Carson McCullers (Writer)
9. Thich Nhat Hanh (Monk)
10. Masaoka Shiki (Poet)

Books Mentioned That Natalie Goldberg Wrote:

1. Chicken and In Love
2. Writing Down The Bones
3. Let The Whole Thundering World Come Home
4. The Great Spring
5. The True Secret of Writing
6. Three Simple Lines

Books Mentioned:

1. The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion)
2. Man’s Search For Meaning (Viktor Frankl)
3. The Ballad of the Sad Café (Carson McCullers)
4. 2030 (Mauro F. Guillén)

aristdecoded.com nataliegoldberg.com