The Slow Fire of Reading | Chelene Knight

About this episode

Chelene Knight discusses the importance of authenticity in creativity and shares insights on reading and writing practices.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a creative? Chelene Knight answers without hesitation: “I think the biggest mistake was just not being me.” This week, we sit down with acclaimed poet, novelist, memoirist, and Tasha’s own writing mentor, Chelene Knight, to talk about what it means to build a creative life. Not the tidy, “professionalized” version, but the messy, alive, human one that actually feels good. Chelene’s most recent book, Safekeeping: A Writer's Guided Journal for Launching a Book with Love , is part guided journal, part treasure map through the writing life. It also, as she puts it, “ contains all of my mistakes as a writer and all the things that I’ve learned .” Listening to her is like being handed a permission slip to go slower, trust yourself, reread the same book forever, throw out the pressure to finish, snack on a single poem and call it a meal. We talk about: * Why “there is no reading, only rereading” * The mistake of ignoring your instincts and how to recover. * Poetry as the foundation for all writing. * What happens when writers trust the reader enough to leave space. * How slowing down turns reading into a kind of prayer. The adventure Chelene…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tasha Schumann, Jeff Warren

Guest: Chelene Knight

Topics covered

• creativity
• writing
• reading practices
• poetry
• self-discovery

Keywords

• creativity
• writing
• poetry
• reading
• self-discovery
• guided journal
• rereading

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Blood Dazzler, Safekeeping: A Writer's Guided Journal for Launching a Book with Love, Dear Ghosts, I Pick the List

More episodes of The Mind Bod Adventure Pod

• My Friend Tara: Helping Kids Meet Compassion | Ivan Bercholz · February 10, 2026 · 48 min
• The Great Search for the Sacred | John Philip Newell & Cami Twilling · January 20, 2026 · 45 min
• When Stress Cracks You Open | Dr. Aditi Nerurkar · January 6, 2026 · 43 min
• How to Find a Calling That Feeds You | Chela Davison · November 11, 2025 · 1h 0m
• Good Vibrations: Can tech train us to feel safe?| Dr. David Rabin · October 21, 2025 · 50 min
• Reclaim Your Mind: Attention Activism in the Digital Age | Jay Vidyarthi · October 8, 2025 · 54 min