Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World

Zen and the Art of Running Free

By: Katie Arnold

Narrated by: Katie Arnold

After flipping her raft days away from help on a trip down the remote Salmon River, Katie Arnold's shattered leg tests both her spirit and her marriage for years to come. It also reignites her meditation practice and motivates her to dive into Zen in search of healing. Before the accident, Katie was an elite ultrarunner with a simmering but adequate marriage who avoided being indoors whenever possible. But who is she afterwards?

In the midst of hardship, Katie turns for support to the Zen practice she had long dabbled in. Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World is a Zen study wrapped in a memoir that tells the story of a search for stillness by a woman born for wildness. Spanning roughly two years, from shortly before the accident through the long, uncertain healing of both leg and marriage, it is a personal narrative of that tumultuous time nested inside meditations on Zen.

As the late Japanese master Shunryu Suzuki wrote, "Sometimes a flashing will come through the dark sky." These brief flashings are enlightenment—moments when we suddenly feel as if we're part of everything, and everything's part of us. This book is about how to experience the flashings when they come, and about what they mean for how we live our lives.

©2024 Katie Arnold (P)2025 Tantor Media

Wonderful!

Katie is a wonderful story teller, both through her writing and reading. Truly a book that is equally enjoyable as it is thought provocative.

An Inspiring Read for all Women

Not are also beautiful writers. I was enthralled at the way Arnold intertwined her athletic comeback with her spiritual practice. It is inspirational to see how her life as a mother, wife, artist and athlete work together. It’s an ever-changing recipe and she seems to embrace that. Loved the book!