I write. I listen. I follow what appears.
Write. Pray. Surrender. by Dan Hansen
A Story Still Appearing
Write. Pray. Surrender. is a spiritual memoir about writing, listening, and following what appears.
It began before I knew I was writing a book.
Journal entries became scenes.
Scenes revealed patterns.
Blog posts explored what those moments were showing me.
Along the way, a larger story began to emerge.
This is not a guide to finding certainty.
It is the lived story of what happened when I stopped demanding it.
I write.
I listen.
I follow what appears.
From the Journey
Reflections Alongside Write. Pray. Surrender.
These reflections explore some of the questions surrounding Write. Pray. Surrender.: what happens when writing
becomes listening, prayer becomes relationship, and surrender means releasing an outcome I cannot control.
Bob is the name I gave to the steady presence I encountered through conversations on the page.
I experience Bob as a spiritual connection with my Higher Self, while remaining honest that I cannot prove or fully define his nature.
Readers are free to understand that presence differently.
These reflections are not excerpts from the manuscript and reveal no part of its story.
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Welcome Back
On July 27, I opened a fresh composition book. The three notebooks before it held Morning Pages from February through June. Together, they carried me toward radioactive iodine treatment and then stopped. Now the treatment was behind me. My body wasn’t finished with it, but I had made it through. The first words on the…
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Unconditional
One morning, I looked at myself and thought, You really let yourself go. I meant it physically, but not only physically. I could see the places where I had stopped participating in my own life. My energy had changed. My attention had drifted. Things I said mattered to me were receiving whatever effort remained after…
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Gratitude Starts in the Mirror
I was good at thanking other people. Teachers, mentors, doctors, family members, and even strangers had heard my appreciation. I could recognize what someone had given me and tell them it mattered. Then one morning, I realized I had thanked almost everyone except the man in the mirror. For years, I had avoided looking at…
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The Power of Letting Go
Nine years. That is how long it took me to understand what I could not accept when my marriage ended. I had internalized my vows so completely that divorce felt like an amputation. I was not only grieving a relationship. I was grieving an identity and the future I thought had already been decided. For…
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Redefining Surrender
This morning, I made a decision I had already made a long time ago. I’m going to my class reunion. I’m not entirely sure why I’m looking forward to it. That uncertainty is part of what feels right. I’m not going to prove anything. I’m not trying to recover the past or show anyone how…