"Horribly Lovely": Writing Through Addiction, Presence & the Messy Human Journey with Jon Kohrs

In this episode of Your Radiant Spirit, host Heather Eck sits down with John, author of the memoir Horribly Lovely, to talk about the eight-year writing process that grew out of a marriage in crisis, a struggle with addiction, and a lifelong search for presence. John shares how a spontaneous, directionless drive became the seed of his book, why he describes writing as being "channeled," and how becoming a father, a coach, and a student of the Enneagram reshaped his understanding of love, intimacy, and what it means to be a "messy human." The conversation moves through Carl Jung's ideas on individuation, the vulnerability that follows sharing something true, childhood sensitivity to other people's energy, and the role of art and coaching as spaces for real presence. In This Episode, We Talk About: The seven-to-eight-year journey of writing Horribly Lovely How addiction, a crumbling marriage, and a directionless drive became the seed of a memoir Writing as "channeling" and letting the unconscious speak The vulnerability hangover that comes after sharing something deeply personal Carl Jung, individuation, and shedding layers to reach your core self Presence as the throughline of John's coaching work and his life Childhood sensitivity, energetic boundaries, and learning to hold space for others The Enneagram as a lens for seeing how differently we each experience reality Where creative ideas come from — and why they aren't always "ours" to keep A quiet moment in Slovenia that became one of the book's central lines About Our Guest Jon Kohrs is the author of Horribly Lovely, a memoir exploring addiction, love, and the long process of becoming who we really are. He also works as a coach, drawing on the Enneagram and years of inner work to help others get present with themselves. You can find him on Substack, where he writes about the beauty of being a messy human being, and take his messiness quiz at horriblylovely.com. A Note From Heather Join me on September 25th for Paintings on the Porch — an evening of art, conversation, and noticing the sacred in ordinary life. RSVP now at heathereck.com. Links Mentioned Guest's book & messiness quiz: horriblylovely.com Get the book: https://a.co/d/00MB8RmW Paintings on the Porch RSVP: heathereck.com Keywords: memoir writing process, addiction and creativity, presence and intimacy, Carl Jung individuation, Enneagram coaching, spiritual growth podcast, art and healing, noticing the sacred, vulnerability in writing, Your Radiant Spirit podcast Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review to help other listeners find our show. EPISODE CREDITS: Produced, edited and mixed by Heather Eck Artwork owned and designed by Heather Eck, all rights reserved. LINKS Be sure to follow and tag @HeatherEckArtist on Facebook and Instagram Visit www.heathereck.com or www.heathereckstudios.com for events, new releases and more Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.