The Path Is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You

by Matt Licata, Jeff Foster (Foreword)

Drawing on my personal journey as well as my work with others as a therapist and guide, I wrote The Path Is Everywhere with the intention that it serve as a provocative, alive, and compassionate invitation to re-enchant our ideas about healing and spiritual awakening in the modern world.

Weaving together the wisdom streams of contemplative spirituality, relational and somatic psychotherapy, and the poetic imagination, The Path Is Everywhere reminds us that the depth and magic of the sacred world is always already here, buried in our emotions, bodies, relationships, and in the natural world itself.

Many have grown weary from a long search, exhausted from an endless quest to improve, hold it all together, heal all their wounds, and complete some mythical spiritual journey. But you are not a project to be solved. You are a mystery coming into form, and you have the raw materials that you need, right now, to live a life of profound depth, purpose, and meaning.

We hear much about spiritual awakening and the deep joy, clarity, and peace that are its promised fruits. Often ignored, however, are the disappointments of awakening and the ways it can shatter our hearts, breaking us open to the reality of the crucifixion, resurrection, and transfiguration we are likely to encounter along the way.

In the rush to convert the negative to the positive, manifest everything we believe we want, and manage our lives into some permanent state of “happiness,” we lose contact with the reality that there is no transfiguration without embodiment to the dark cross within. The journey of becoming a true human person is messy by nature, as it emerges directly out of the unknown and requires compassionate confrontation with the entirety of what we are.

As we journey together as fellow travelers, let us commit to embracing both the joy and the heartbreak of the path, and bear witness to the wisdom shining out of our immediate experience, whether it appears as sadness, bliss, despair, or great joy. Grace will appear in both sweet and fierce forms but it is still grace, sent from beyond to open us to the radiant fullness of being.

Genres: Spirituality, Self Help

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired and inspiring

This book shines light into the darkest recesses of your soul, allows you to hold space for the most destructive painful experiences of being human, and come out better equipped to heal.

[Lori Koppelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never encountered this information and from this angle.I so needed to address my lifelong need to run from difficult emotions. This book was unbelievably helpful to me in understanding and then APPLYING what I was learning. Loved it.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author tends to repeat himself, just rephrasing it in different ways throughout the book…but isn’t that pretty typical of this kind of book? Don’t we want to keep hearing the same message over and over again until we finally absorb it?

[Kathryn]

I suspect that I agree with nearly everything that the author says in this book. The problem is that I often found myself struggling to figure out what the heck he was saying. I would reread a sentence several times, struggling to decipher his poetic prose. Sometimes it felt like he was repeating the same ideas, dressed up in different disguises. Once I realized that reading this book had started to feel like eating my vegetables, I decided that this isn’t the right fit for me at this point on my path. (No star review because I only read the first half.)

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate the "uncovering the jewels within you" subtitle, because this book is generally less sentimental and wishy-washy than that suggests.

[Gypsy Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve ever reviewed that I didn’t finish. When I first started it, I thought, What is this? It felt like a chaotic mix of riddles and word salad, all wrapped up in something claiming to be spiritual. It took me a minute to adjust and appreciate the poetic style. Instead of just sprinkling in poetic prose here and there, the entire book is written that way, which made it hard to digest, especially after a full day at work when my brain was already fried.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I love some poetic literature, but this? It was like my brain had to clock overtime just to comprehend a page. I found myself taking forever to get through it, reading it in tiny portions so I could sit with the meaning and try to absorb it. That said, the book is truly unique and offers a deep, philosophical way of exploring the spiritual journey. It encourages embracing the fractured parts of ourselves rather than obsessively trying to heal or fix them.

This book isn’t for everyone, but it definitely spoke to me. However, I simply couldn't give it the time and attention it deserves before I had to return it to the library. I’ve decided to buy my own copy so I can absorb its contents properly, at my own pace.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life Changing Wisdom

Rarely can I say a book changed my life....yet this book did just that, in spades. Licata uses ancient tools in a new way, explaining the alchemical art of opening to and holding space for somatic, emotional and layered energetic patterns of self-abandonment that keep us locked in habitual patterns of perception...relating...making sense out of our world. He will give you a reliable map to new levels of awareness (internal navigating...vision) that can create an almost tsunami shift out of our predilection of layered self-protection into the raw, often murky alive realness pulsing within us; inviting us...then captivating us. This book is a game changer...highly recommend.

[madeline m small · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely marvelous!!

Can't find words enough or the right words to express how this book has informed, uplifted, encouraged, inspired and....and...ah sooo much! So consoling. What a beautiful book full of love, and what a lovely welcome longed for RESTING place for the soul! I read it fast, then I read it slow, and I'm sure I'll read it again and again. And what a joy to find that there were times in the book that I found through my own struggles I had come to some of the same conclusion as Matt, that gave me a lot of hope. Thank God for Matt! A fellow traveller and masterful beautiful guide for sure!!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about accepting where you are. Embracing the sadness, avoidance, and broken-parts. It is about finding peace and acceptance with them. This book seems like exactly what I need. This is it! I'm just not sure this work can be done alone. He says if you have mental health diagnosis, to seek professional help. I do recommend the book, but it may be frustrating if you are trying to work on these things alone.

[Chaz Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books, if not the best books I have ever read.

I recently took a journey that helped me open up more to the injured child in me. I had read this book when it first was published, and started to reread after my journey. As if word for word the book spoke directly to my soul. Word for word. The healing for me was not about thinking but turning towards the darkness I have spent my life avoiding. My love is the deepest longing, The Beloved.

[Rebecca]

Insta Stephanie

[Lawrence]

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