Jacob Nordby is a writer. He is the author of The Divine Arsonist: A Tale of Awakening. As well as Blessed Are the Weird, which we have been exploring in some depth over the past few weeks on the Gentle Rebel Podcast.
In this week’s show I am excited to bring you a conversation Jacob and I had last week. It was an exchange that left my heart full to bursting.
You can listen to the first three parts of this series: Weird | Misfits | Artists.

I had planned to edit the ‘interview’ down to 30 minutes, but quickly realised that this was an impossible task. I didn’t ask any of my pre-planned questions because I got lost in the conversation. And because the conversation flowed it can’t be broken up without making it clunky and confusing. So hey, you’re getting the whole thing!
“Creativity is not something we put in a little room or a box and visit when it’s convenient for us.”
So this is one of Jacob Norby’s deep convictions. It drives his work and his interactions with anyone who seeks his advice on writing. Creativity envelopes our lives. It’s not something we ‘do’. These ideas resonated with me massively. First in the book, and then in this interview.
‘Sense of Otherness’
“At the age of 10 I wanted to be a writer” – Jacob Nordby
This was the first time Jacob felt like he knew what he truly wanted to do with his life. But he locked this dream away through the gradual process where he created himself into a life that didn’t feel like it fitted. Aged 34, it was a terrifying realisation. He ‘had it all’ (the big house, employees, multiple businesses).
He had no idea how to ‘get back into alignment’. It seemed like the only way out was to go deeper in. Making enough money to buy his freedom and get away from the anchors he had established.
Until 2008 when the financial crisis occurred, and he was handed the gift of a new start when his businesses were thrown upside down. This was a horribly chaotic experience with a lot of darkness and confusion. But one which with the comfort of hindsight, was key to bringing alignment back to the table.
This was the moment Jacob started writing again.
Homecoming
Many of us create our ways into lives that leave us feeling out of alignment. We might call it ‘drift‘. Or just getting caught in the tide of life. We wake up one day, realising that there are so many dreams, hopes, and desires that we once carried, that have been left to stagnate and disappear.
It’s never too late to ‘come home’. We don’t need a huge crisis that turns our lives upside down. But we do need to be in a place of readiness.
The process of getting to know ourselves and other people better is like the homecoming story of our inner orphan. We experience isolation and alienation in our activities, certain relationships, and lives we create ourselves into over time. But there is a home within each of us, where we can find, and find a profound sense of peace.
For some people these ideas won’t resonate. While for others who are in the right place, this will make complete sense. I believe it’s something that resonates at the right time. We can’t really manufacture a need for it. But if we feel it then we will connect.
And I know that some of you will do just that when you listen to our conversation. It profoundly moved me in ways I wasn’t expecting or ready for. This has been the hardest 18 months of my life. Coming into contact with Jacob, reading his book,