Spirituality publishers note that the formats that appeal to religious believers—daily devotionals, Christian living guides, and poetic meditations—also work well for those who eschew traditional faiths. In new and forthcoming books aimed at such readers, authors assert that spiritual experiences can occur anywhere, at any moment, on any given day—if one is open to them.
One title aiming to help readers open up is The Daily Artist’s Way: 366 Meditations for Creative Living (Nov.), an interactive guide that builds on Julia Cameron’s blockbuster inspirational 1992 title The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. St. Martin’s Essentials editor and publisher Joel Fotinos, who acquired the book, says Cameron doesn’t tag her ideas to God or a higher power but rather defines spirituality as “a connection to something within that is bigger than ourselves.” Like religious devotionals, which usually offer a short author comment or prayer, a Bible quote, and an action prompt each day, The Daily Artist’s Way features a brief meditation from Cameron; a related quote from an author, philosopher, or even a rock star; and a prompt to get creativity cooking.
Another day-by-day approach is offered in Do/Reset/Meditate. Move Beyond Thinking. Find Clarity. out now from Do Books. Author Jill Lavender leads people of faith or no faith in Vedic meditation techniques. Miranda West, publisher of Do Books, says that while a religious person “might trust that God has their back, a meditator might trust the universe or their own instincts.” People who aren’t religious, West adds, “still have a spiritual side that needs to be nurtured. We all want to feel anchored and grounded.”
Watkins’s Daily Glimmers (Aug.) is a pocket-size collection of more than 1,000 suggestions for spotting “glimmers”—three-second moments of joy—that can brighten any day. Author Bridget McNulty writes that glimmers can be as simple as petting a purring cat. “A glimmer may not be a religious experience,” says commissioning editor Brittany Willis, “but it could be described as a spiritual experience, because it connects the reader to the universe around them and back to themselves.”
And Convergent brings two poetry collections to the spiritual-but-not-religious bookshelf. Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again (out now) is by lawyer-turned-yoga-instructor Victoria Hutchins, who shares her views, poems, and yoga techniques on social media. Associate editor Leita Williams says Hutchins’s poetry draws on childhood and nostalgia. Williams points to the poem “god as imaginary friend” in which, she says, the author aims to take “some of the pressure off of talking to God,” adding, “Maybe the spiritual life doesn’t always have to be so complicated and rigid, maybe a childlike faith is what our souls are really yearning for.”
Editorial director Derek Reed says that A Rebellion of Care (July), the debut collection of poems and essays from Instagram poet David Gate, invites readers to care for “our bodies, our communities, our environment, or our souls.” Gate writes that “creating art as a form of care” is “a kind of sacred act.”
