New · October 31
Acorn
An illustrated fable about an acorn who spent years trying to be a pine tree. Written by me, painted by Kelly van Koppenhagen.
Signed copies ship around the October 31 release.
“Acorn showed up as a story while working with a client one day, and then would never leave me alone until I wrote it.”
— Jacob
Hi, I'm Jacob.
I’ve spent most of my life unlearning what I was told about who I should be, and sharing what I found. That became four books, a journal practice thousands of people use, and years of teaching alongside people like Julia Cameron and Anne Lamott. I live in Boise, Idaho. Most mornings you’ll find me on a trail in the foothills, or in the back corner of a coffee shop, working on the next thing. My three adult children are nearby and hard at work on their own becoming. Crackweasel, our cat companion, keeps things lively and chaotic in a Zen sort of way.
I’ve produced and promoted books and events with Dr. Joe Dispenza, Gregg Braden, Byron Katie, and don Miguel Ruiz, and taught at the Gathering of the Creatives in Santa Fe and the Gathering of the Shamans in Sedona.
My books
Acorn (2026)
A fable for adults and anyone else, in the tradition of The Velveteen Rabbit and The Little Prince. Out October 31.
The Creative Cure
How to get your creativity back, and why that matters for more than art. With a foreword by Julia Cameron, and exercises you can start the same day.
Blessed Are the Weird (2016)
A manifesto for the people who never quite fit. I’m finishing new material for a 10th-anniversary edition, expected around the New Year.
The Divine Arsonist: A Tale of Awakening (2012)
My first book, a novel drawn from my own awakening: losing everything I thought I knew about who I was, and finding out what waits on the other side of the fire.
“I think this book serves as an entry way into deep creative waters…”
— Julia Cameron, from her foreword to The Creative Cure
“This book invites you to find purpose, healing, and joy as the artist of your own life.”
— don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements
Free
The Creative Self Journal
Three questions, about ten minutes a day. It’s the practice I use myself, and the one I give clients and students. More than 6,000 people have used it to start a journaling habit. It’s especially for people who don’t like to journal.
Leave your name and email, and I’ll send you the short ebook. You’ll also get my newsletter, which you can leave any time.
“A few years ago, I downloaded your simple journaling guidelines… I’m still using this practice almost every day… I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life because each day I carve out a few very conscious moments to connect with this beautiful heart of mine.”
— Cindy Stroud
Other ways to work with me
On your own
A prompt a day by email, for a month, drawn from The Creative Cure. Free.
Thirty journaling lessons by email, one every three days for about three months, all circling one question: “Why the hell did I show up here, and what am I going to do about it?” $27.
Live, with others
Most Saturdays at 10 a.m. Mountain (noon Eastern), online and free. A few minutes to say hello, then 50 minutes of silence while we each work on our own thing: a novel, a painting, a business plan, the hard email you’ve been dodging. Or just read a book in good company.
Creative Recovery, with Julia Cameron
Twelve weeks through The Artist’s Way. The current group is underway. The next round opens in 2027, and newsletter readers hear first.
Creative UnBootcamp
Running since 2014. Thousands of people have come through it. Next dates go to newsletter subscribers first.
One-on-one
For the book, project, or change you keep not finishing.
Tell me where you’re stuck. I read every one of these notes.
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