What if the world is trying to speak to us?

In this debut story episode of The Seeker, Brad Wetzler recounts an extraordinary experience that occurred while driving alone on a remote Colorado highway before dawn. A dove suddenly struck his windshield with tremendous force. When the sun finally rose, he discovered something he still struggles to explain: the bird had left behind a ghostly white imprint of its body across the cracked glass, a shape that lingered long after the blood and feathers were gone.

The image became more than the memory of a collision. It became an invitation to wonder.

In this deeply personal essay, Brad reflects on our human longing to find meaning in the mysterious moments of life. Are they simply random events? Or are they invitations to pay closer attention? Drawing on his own lifelong search for truth, spirituality, and the hidden currents running beneath ordinary experience, he explores why some encounters refuse to leave us unchanged.

This is a story about a bird, a windshield, and the possibility that the world is far more alive, interconnected, and mysterious than we often allow ourselves to believe.

In this episode:

• The haunting aftermath of a dove striking Brad's windshield at dawn.
• Why certain moments refuse to let go of us.
• The tension between skepticism and wonder.
• What it means to live as a seeker rather than someone who already has the answers.
• How paying attention can transform an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

If this story resonates with you, please follow The Seeker, leave a review, and share the episode with someone who has experienced a moment they simply couldn't explain.

In this episode, host Brad Wetzler re-introduces listeners to Enlightened-ish Podcast after two years away to write and publish his memoir, Into the Soul of the World: My Journey to Healing. The book, published by Hachette Book Group is now available on Amazon.com and from your local independent bookstore.

He discusses why he named the podcast Enlightened-ish and his philosophy that our spiritual life ought to be rooted in a spirit of imperfection.

Stay connected—on the path, in the work, and in the soul.

🌐 Website & offerings: https://bradwetzler.com
📬 Substack | Seeking: Letters to the Restless: https://bradwetzler.substack.com
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/bradwetzler
📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/bradwetzlerwriter

🎓 Memoir Workshop – One Powerful Session:
https://bradwetzler.com/one-powerful-session-one-inspired-follow-up-a-lifetime-of-writing-tools

🌀 Writing the Soul – A Guided Journey:
https://bradwetzler.com/writing-the-soul

🎙️ Audiobook — Into the Soul of the World: https://adbl.co/3NAtvCc
📚 Hardcover book: https://amzn.to/3JYPsp7

For more information about Brad or his memoir coaching services, please go to bradwetzler.com

In this episode, Brad Wetzler revisits Siddhartha, the classic spiritual novel by Hermann Hesse, and discusses the concepts of "true self" and "authenticity." What do these words actually mean? He asks, how do we locate our true self? And how do we live from our true self? What is the cost of living in our true self? Is he--are you--courageous enough to become who you really are? As Alan Watts might say, Are you ready to walk away from the unspoken agreements holding you back, to live your dharma, "your weird"? Doesn't the world need your true, authentic self, your full-blown weird? I think you know the answer: Yes, it does.

Brad Wetzler is the author of the new memoir INTO THE SOUL OF THE WORLD: MY JOURNEY TO HEALING (Hachette Go). You can buy the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Soul-World-Journey-Healing/dp/0306829304/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683471841&sr=8-1

This powerful memoir shares an adventure journalist's story of a decade-long, round-the-world quest to overcome his drug addiction and to understand and heal from past traumas. Suffering from PTSD and severe depression from past trauma, battling an addiction to overprescribed psychiatric medication, and at the rock bottom of his career, journalist Brad Wetzler had nowhere to go. So he set out on a journey to wander and hopefully find himself—and the world—again. Into the Soul of the World is Wetzler's thrilling, impactful, and heartrending memoir of healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. An adventure journalist at heart, Wetzler mixes travelogue with empowering insights about his inner journey to better care for his own mental health. Journey with him as he travels across Israel and the West Bank, before moving on to India, a candle-lit cave on a mountaintop in the Himalayan foothills, and a life-changing encounter with a 100-year-old yogi. Wetzler's writing is full of the poignant, amusing, and occasionally heart‑breaking situations that unfold when we finally decide to confront depression (or any mental health struggle) and declare ourselves ready to heal: How do we heal our past and thrive again? What does it mean to live a good life? How can we transform our suffering and serve others? His answer: live to tell the story and find the humility and courage to be the best human you can be.

Stay connected—on the path, in the work, and in the soul.

🌐 Website & offerings: https://bradwetzler.com
📬 Substack | Seeking: Letters to the Restless: https://bradwetzler.substack.com
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/bradwetzler
📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/bradwetzlerwriter

🎓 Memoir Workshop – One Powerful Session:
https://bradwetzler.com/one-powerful-session-one-inspired-follow-up-a-lifetime-of-writing-tools

🌀 Writing the Soul – A Guided Journey:
https://bradwetzler.com/writing-the-soul

🎙️ Audiobook — Into the Soul of the World: https://adbl.co/3NAtvCc
📚 Hardcover book: https://amzn.to/3JYPsp7

For more info about Brad Wetzler, visit bradwetzler.com

Music credit: "sun of the most high" by ketsa