31: Mystic Poet Chelan Harkin on Poetry, Prayer and Unlocking Creative Flow

Mystic poet Chelan Harkin doesn't write poems, she transmits them. At 21, after giving herself permission to write a "bad poem" every day, a creative channel cracked open and poems have flowed through her ever since. Her work has drawn comparisons to Rumi, Hafiz and Khalil Gibran. Poets whose words slip beneath the thinking mind to reach something deeper, older and more alive within us. Celebrating World Poetry Day this month, this episode features Chelan speaking with Wonderstruck's Elizabeth Rovere about: ✦ How a Hafiz poem she heard at 17 unlocked her heart and set her entire path in motion ✦ The "bad poem experiment" and how permission to fail became the key to creative flow ✦ How praying to her favourite dead poets led to a synchronicity that changed everything ✦ How our deepest fears, when met with consciousness, can transform into our strongest allies ✦ The extraordinary story behind her book The Prophetess which stands in conversation with Gibran’s The Prophet This is a conversation for anyone who has suspected that the sacred isn’t elsewhere, but closer, more available and more alive than we ever dared to believe. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:07:06 The Poem That Changed Everything 00:13:47 The "Bad Poem Experiment" 00:19:22 Say Wow: The Poem That Went Viral 00:23:44 Praying To Her Favourite Dead Poets 00:30:50 The Meaning Of Authentic Service 00:35:55 Suffering and Our Great Cocoon 00:39:21 Writing The Prophetess 00:43:33 Meeting Hajjar Gibran 00:51:53 Fear as a Life Force 00:58:32 Closing Reflections Follow Chelan Harkin: Website: https://chelanharkinpoetry.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelanharkin/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chani.harkin Find all Chelan's books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B08PL55XMD Follow Wonderstruck: Website: https://wonderstruck.org Substack: https://newsletter.wonderstruck.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.