Truth Bombs and Tea with Jennifer Garner
Journaling as prayer & a New Year’s Eve ritual
A few months ago, a friend gave the beloved actress, producer, and entrepreneur Jennifer Garner a copy of The Book of Alchemy. I later learned she’d been not just reading it, but journaling to each prompt. When I wrote the book, this is exactly how I hoped it would be used, so hearing that she was doing just that (and had already made it through 35 consecutive prompts!) was thrilling.
I admire Jen so much for her generosity, thoughtfulness, and the way she shows up—on the page and in the world—with such good humor and heart. I got the chance to sit with her over a cup of tea in her living room, and it was pure delight. We laughed. We both got a little choked up. As Jen put it, she dropped a few truth bombs. (We also bonded over our shared office-supply addiction.)
What I’m sharing with you today is the full video of that conversation. It’s the kind of conversation we’ll be having together this month: honest, unguarded, unconcerned with arriving anywhere impressive.
One of the moments that stayed with me was when Jen talked about how, if you stay with the page long enough, you start to notice what keeps circling back. And how eventually, almost without trying, you find yourself asking a gentler question than What’s wrong with me? Instead: How might I shift this?