James A. Pearson

A New Spring

James A. Pearson — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:22:53 +0000

Today for the first time in months
the sun was strong enough
for me to sit outside in the afternoon,
sipping a cold drink, my body remembering
a season when the world wanted me

to be alive, to grow. But that was before
all the dying I’ve done—whole futures fallen,
promises left hanging like fishhooks.
Would spring come again, even for me?
And if it did would it find me brave enough
to risk a new seed in the trickster soil?

Who knows what shapes this life might take!
But this I do know: the only regret
is not loving the world
in all the painfully honest ways
that only you can love it.

–From my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name

Discover the natural path to deep belonging.

Sign up below and I’ll send you The Four Seasons of Belonging, my mini-book with poems and practices to tap into more of your wholeness in every season of life:

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Standing Invitation

James A. Pearson — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 17:01:57 +0000

Come home to
this body. It’s living
your life.

–From my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name

Discover the natural path to deep belonging.

Sign up below and I’ll send you The Four Seasons of Belonging, my mini-book with poems and practices to tap into more of your wholeness in every season of life:

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How Many Things

James A. Pearson — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 18:03:53 +0000

Look how many things
I’ve turned out

not to be—
what a bitter

gift.

–From my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name

Discover the natural path to deep belonging.

Sign up below and I’ll send you The Four Seasons of Belonging, my mini-book with poems and practices to tap into more of your wholeness in every season of life:

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The Gift You Seek

James A. Pearson — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:48:58 +0000

You spend your whole life
looking for something,
only to find

the world looking back at you,
saying, “Yes, please give us
this gift you seek.”

–From my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name

Discover the natural path to deep belonging.

Sign up below and I’ll send you The Four Seasons of Belonging, my mini-book with poems and practices to tap into more of your wholeness in every season of life:

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More Than Okay

James A. Pearson — Sat, 08 Nov 2025 21:23:25 +0000

I’m not wishing you failure,
or heartbreak, or the loss
of who you’ve worked so hard
to be. But I’m standing here
on the other side of my own
destruction, my bare feet
warming in the dark soil,
and I’m whispering little
ribbons into the wind that say,
“You’re going to be more
than okay.” You don’t deserve
the pain of this world. But
no one arrives in their own life
without the cataclysm of birth.

–From my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name

Discover the natural path to deep belonging.

Sign up below and I’ll send you The Four Seasons of Belonging, my mini-book with poems and practices to tap into more of your wholeness in every season of life:

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The Trail of Seeds

James A. Pearson — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 16:55:50 +0000

What started as flowers
are quickly becoming seeds,
brown and heavy on stalks
bent low to the earth.

I had a dream for my life.
It bloomed and withered
and left me laden with—
regrets, I thought, and fears.

For years the load I carried!
Until one day I found it
growing lighter on my shoulders,
and behind me a trail of seeds.

This poem is from my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name, which gives you poems for every season of life.

See all the details and where to get a copy here:

Book Details ➔

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Where Did the Middle Go?

James A. Pearson — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 17:41:02 +0000

It’s always near the end
that I’m startled into presence—
my morning walk nearly over,
my coffee down to its last sip.
Where have I been? Where did
the middle go? I’ve been asking
all my life. But then what’s ending
shakes me back into my body,
the way autumn calls to you
with its waving yellows
and falling reds: “Witness me!”
it seems to shout. “I’m here
only for a moment.”

This poem is from my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name, which gives you poems for every season of life.

See all the details and where to get a copy here:

Book Details ➔

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Gentle Tools for Growth in the New Year

James A. Pearson — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 20:59:31 +0000

A few years ago I felt like my life would never change.

It was a year or so into COVID. I’d been working the same job for years, spending evenings and weekends scratching away at figuring what I actually love and how to grow into it.

But no matter how much changed inside me, the external shape of my days seemed locked in an unbreakable rut.

Fast forward to the last couple years.

I’ve been laid off, published a book, got a new job, had a son, and watched my poetry reach exponentially more people than ever before.

I think we often overestimate how much life is supposed to change in a year.

But our imaginations can hardly grasp how much our lives will change over the course of a decade—both with our conscious effort and regardless of it.

That’s why the New Year’s push to “transform your life” eventually starts to feel futile.

It doesn’t work like that.

The sort of change we’re actually longing for feels a lot more like Richard Rohr’s observation about true growth. That it’s not just transcending the season we’re in. It’s transcending and including every season we’ve lived, every version of us we’ve been.

In my experience that’s seasonal work.

It won’t be rushed.

With that in mind, I wanted to share a few things I’ve created that can accompany you in that process.

They won’t transform your life overnight.

But they might offer you a little bit of camaraderie and insight to take the next small, courageous step deeper into your own belonging.

Write Your 2025 Reflection Poem
—
Reflect on your year and write a poem to capture it, even if you’ve never written a poem.

Get the Free Guide

The Survival Dance and the Sacred Dance
—
How to balance livelihood and longing and discover your true work in the world

Read the Article

The Wilderness That Bears Your Name
—
Get my book, with a poetic cycle to walk with you through every season of life.

Book Details

A Door in the Dead End
—
How loss, heartbreak, and failure open your way to the second half of life

Read the Article

The Four Seasons of Belonging
—
Discover the natural path into full belonging with this free guide

Get the Guide

The Hidden Invitation of Burnout
—
How to practice “the antidote to exhaustion” when rest isn’t enough

Read the Article

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Winter Solstice

James A. Pearson — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:54:05 +0000

It happens in a moment—
this tiny, imperceptible turning
when all at once the night
ceases its imperial advance
and the next morning promises
to dawn just a sigh earlier
than the one before.

The world still goes on dying
around it, and trying to keep itself alive.
This is not yet the spring.

But huddled in their dens,
their nests, their thick forest groves,
the creatures of the world
put all their wordless faith in this
quiet shift, dreaming songs of hope
that maybe, even now,
it’s already happened.

This poem is from my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name, which gives you poems for every season of life.

See all the details and where to get a copy here:

Book Details ➔

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What Needs You

James A. Pearson — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 23:44:10 +0000

Sit still
and you will find
discomfort.

Sit still
in the discomfort
and you will find

what needs you.

This poem is from my book, The Wilderness That Bears Your Name, which gives you poems for every season of life.

See all the details and where to get a copy here:

Book Details ➔

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