Hi there, dear reader!

If you happen to be new here, allow me to welcome you warmly.

My name is Dave Ursillo. I’ve been running this blog as a platform for my business-of-one for the last 9 years. This website was my first step after quitting my earliest career path in politics and public service, which, at 23, had rendered me depressed. Once wanting to change the world and serve people through conventional means, I left that polarized world determined to do more, and sooner, on my own.

But I still had a ways to go to find my path.

Early on, I hoped to become a career author and speaker, but after years of gaining little traction as an author all on my lonesome, I fell into the role of a teacher of writing and creative self-expression. Eventually I went on to become a teacher of yoga, marrying self-expression with self-knowledge. And haven’t looked back since.

These days, after 5 years of working with hundreds of clients and thousands of yoga students, I’m expanding my reach and turning my teachings into containers of healing, personal growth and inner transformation.

I travel to teach workshops (affiliate link) and destination retreats in between publishing weekly articles here, sending bi-weekly newsletters to a few thousand readers, and sharing my premier writing course, Unavoidable Writing.

Today, I thought I’d round-up some recent reader favorites from my blog to give you a deep dive into the creative teachings I’ve been sharing across recent months. Consider this a sampler plate of what you can expect to come from me in the months ahead.

I’m thrilled that you’re here, and hope to give you enough reason to stick around.

Begin by looking within.

How Does Writing Change How I Feel? What Leading Research Says. I started to teach people how to write out of fairly selfish reasons: I wanted to better understand my own love and relationship to writing. Years later, I understand writing to be a particularly powerful vessel of both self-knowledge and self-expression. Leading research tends to say similar things. Check this out to learn of some of the benefits of this mind-body connection.

7 Writing Prompts for Mindfulness (That You Can Journal in 7 Minutes or Less) So! You read the above piece and you’re sold — writing sounds like an awesome way to get in tune with your inner self. I’m elated! Here are a handful of writing prompts that you can use to guide your self-knowledge through self-expression.

How Do You Journal? Once my students and clients get a taste for the supportive inner-outer rapport with their budding writing practice, the next question that they tend to ask is, “Where do I take it from here?” It’s a good one, and the truth is that there are no shortage of places to go with your personal journaling. In this roundup, I ask a range of friends and peers to tell me about their relationship to writing, including the ways in which they have used personal journaling to their benefit. 

Reach out into the world.

Let’s Agree to Disagree. I believe that reaching out into the world is a moral obligation, and a beautiful gift. As a soul who is privileged to exist in the world in this lifetime, one of our greatest deeds is to embrace other souls with empathy, compassion and understanding. That takes stepping outside of our knowing, our comfort, and our sense of rightness. In this piece, I share the story of two people who are trying to do just that.

A metta prayer for those in need of help (when you’re feeling especially helpless). Even though I’m considered by friends to be quite the traveler, the truth is that your mindset and everyday life are vessels for reaching out into the world, even if your “world” is your backyard, local community or town. To guide open-heartedness and evoke your highest self to come forth, try on this simple metta prayer.

Why Is It So Tough to Tell My Own Story? And, How to Do It Anyway. One way I help clients and students expand their presence and deeds in the world is to have them consider the stories they tell to be vessels of change. Our words hold transformational power, and carry energetic consequence. By changing the stories you’re telling in the world, the world around you changes.

Lead, with or without followers.

You Can’t Care About Everything. If you ever feel emotionally paralyzed, as I have in my life, by the sheer gravity of so much work and help that our world and its peoples need, here’s an affirming thought: not every problem is your obligation to care about. That may sound defeatist, but the point is that your work is to know what your soul’s mission is, and no one else’s. This is a call to know yourself, and to tread your path of giving and service — if we all do, the world will be better for it!

I Want to Help People. Where Do I Begin? As a teacher of self-knowledge, I believe we all walk a path of healing (within ourselves, and out in the world) when we engage in an ever-deepening relationship to our truth, our shadows, and our desires. If you feel disheartened or increasingly cynical with all the suffering that seems amplified in the world and don’t know where to begin, here’s what I believe is your first step.

The Easy-Big Rule (Or, Why Big Change Must Begin Small). Small, concentrated efforts can yield a tremendous effect over time. In this piece, I encourage readers to explore making change through personal practices that continually return you to a sense of self, wholeness and presence. Whittle down the enormity of the task or goal at hand, and start with just one step.