The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life

(Paperback)

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A powerful personal journey to find meaning and life lessons in the words of a wildly popular 13th century poet. Rumi's inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. To writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became a lifeline. In The Rumi Prescription, we follow her path of discovery as she translates Rumi's works for herself - to gain wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock. With the help of her father, who is a lifelong fan of Rumi's poetry, she immerses herself in this rich body of work, and discovers a 13th-century prescription for modern life. Addressing isolation, distraction, depression, fear, and other everyday challenges we face, the book offers a roadmap for living with intention and ease, and embracing love at every turn--despite our deeply divided and chaotic times. Most of all, it presents a vivid reminder that we already have the answers we seek, if we can just slow down to honor them. You went out in search of gold far and wide, but all along you were gold on the inside. Become the sky and the clouds that create the rain, not the gutter that carries it to the drain. You already own all the sustenance you seek. If only you'd wake up and take a peek. Quit being a drop. Make yourself an ocean.

Reviews

A heartening narrative of family, transformation, and couragethe book could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes.Kirkus Reviews

The Rumi Prescription is a testament to the healing power of artand its ability to bring peace to our battered souls. Sometimes thecure we need is not a pill, but a poem.Firoozeh Dumas, New York Timesbestselling author of Funny in Farsi

As a lover of beautiful sentences and a secret self-help addict, I gobbled up this groundbreaking book, relishing the language, the wisdom, and the vivid and moving portrait of a father and daughter. Whether you read it for its fine translations of Rumi, its engrossing story, or as a practical guide for self-care, please give yourself the gift of reading The Rumi Prescription.David Gessner, New York Timesbestselling author of All the Wild That Remains and The Tarball Chronicles

Melody Moezzi takes Rumi down from a dusty bookshelf, breathes life into his ancient wisdom, and makes him our guide through common contemporary struggles: anger, anxiety, distraction, and more. The Rumi Prescription translates the wisdom of a medieval mystic into the voice of a wise, honest, irreverent friend who tells us what we most need to hear.Krista Bremer, author of My Accidental Jihad and A Tender Struggle

A stunning memoir. Melody Moezzi merges medieval poetry with modern drama, exploring love, politics, and mental health. Original translations of Rumis poems are interspersed with ruminations on fatherhood, feminism, and self-care, offering insights that will changeyour life. I wish I could prescribe this memoir.Dr. Seema Yasmin, MD, author of Muslim Women Are Everything: Stereotype-Shattering Stories of Courage, Inspiration, and Adventure

This book enlightened, delighted, and actively helped me. Its a love letter sent across centuries, from one artist to anotherand decades, from a daughter to her fatherand in the here and now, from a writer to her readers. The Rumi Prescription is the sweetest medicine Ive ever taken.Nina de Gramont, author of The Last September

The Rumi Prescription is a joy to read.Ellen Forney, New York Timesbestselling author of Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo, and Me

Author Bio

Melody Moezzi is a writer, speaker, activist, commentator, columnist, attorney and award-winning author. Moezzi is a blogger for Ms. magazine, and a featured regular columnist, blogger, and vlogger for bp [Bipolar] Magazine. Moezzi's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Beast and The Guardian.