[00:00:00] Aneta: We often hear people wishing us a long, happy, and healthy life, but what if the length isn't what matters most? What if instead, it's the breath depth and purpose of each day that matters most? Welcome to the Live the Width of Your Life podcast. My name is Aneta Ardelian Kuzma, and join me weekly as I interview guests who have made changes in their lives to live more fully with intention, gratitude, and joy. Be prepared to be inspired by their stories of how they shifted their mindset, took courageous action, and designed the life that they always wanted to live.
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[00:00:34] Aneta: Welcome back to Live The Width of Your Life podcast. This is Aneta for a solo episode, and today I'm gonna talk about something deeply personal. That is a little bit scary still to talk about, and something extremely exciting as well. So I want to announce that I am writing a new book. I've written it, and we are in the final stages of editing and formatting, and the book is called Lanterns of Light.
[00:01:07] So want to share with you a little bit about how this book came to be. In November of 2023, I was sitting in my meditation, just a normal day, a normal morning. And I know that it was November of 2023, probably the exact date if I wanted to look it up, because I journal, and I happened to write about this afterwards.
[00:01:28] So I was sitting in my meditation feeling grounded, really peaceful, connecting to God in a really deep way, and I heard a voice, which was not my own, and it said From God, I knew it was God. It's time to write your second book. And I've been thinking about writing another book. I always said I wanted to write, probably a book a year, and I wasn't actively writing anything specific, and I didn't even know what I would write about.
[00:01:56] And I heard this voice, and I said, okay, in my mind, I was having this conversation, what is this book going to be about? And what I heard was, I want you to write a book using your favorite scripture verses as the chapters, as each chapter, and then talking about how you've used that verse in your own life to overcome or to deal with whatever it was that was coming up for you.
[00:02:22] And, when I heard this, I said, no, I automatically was like, I don't want to do this. It scared me, to be quite honest, and I had all these excuses in my mind. It was racing. I was sitting in meditation, so I kept going. I'm not a pastor. I'm not a rabbi. I am not a theologian. I'm not an academic.
[00:02:44] I'm just a regular person. Why do you want me to write this book, God? Using scripture, because it is scary to talk about God. Now I'm starting to see that more and more people are returning to faith, but just to use the word God and talk about the fact that I have this regular communication was scary for me in a public way.
[00:03:08] Now, people who know me and have known me know that my faith is really strong, and I've always had such a connection to God. And I love the Bible. I love reading scripture. I love digging i,n and I do feel like it's still alive. The word is alive.
[00:03:22] And so what I heard was go back into your journals, and I want you to look at how often when you were struggling with things, you were using verses from the Bible and scripture to help you. And I never really thought about it. But I went back because I typed my entries when I journal in the mornings, I was able to go back and say, Wow. I found over 20 different verses that I had relied on over the last couple of years since I started typing every morning.
[00:03:55] Versus, and I thought, okay, so, I started writing this book, still a little begrudgingly but out of obedience, and then I would stop, and then I'd start again. And I started slowly talking to people about the book. I talked to people within my circle, some friends who were within communities that I was a part of, and started to share with my family a little bit more of what I was doing.
[00:04:21] And the more that I started writing, the more it was clear that I should be pulling my journal entries into some of these chapters as well, which is also something that doesn't feel comfortable because you are allowing people into your head, into what you're struggling with. Maybe talking about things that I didn't ordinarily talk about, and then this year, I felt strongly convicted that this was the year the book had to come out. So I remember leaving this long voice message for my editor, and I told George I think that I started writing the book last year and gave him a little bit of details, but not a lot. And he's super patient, he's very busy with other clients.
[00:05:05] And I sent him this long message talking about what the book was gonna be about, and even saying. I know I just said these words. I don't know if this sucks. I remember thinking that I don't know if what I'm writing, if anyone else will understand it. I don't know if it's just something in my head if it really should just continue to not be something that is published.
[00:05:28] And luckily George was willing and open to reading the first draft, and he said, this is inclusive for everyone regardless of where they are on their spiritual path, regardless of whether they even have any reference for a lot of these stories, because I was explaining in the book a lot of what the story is historically.
[00:05:51] And so I started reading and writing more, and then a couple of months ago I decided to start sharing chapters with early readers. So I asked friends if they were interested. My family has been reading some of the chapters, and luckily, the feedback has been positive.
[00:06:10] I've got some really good feedback on ways to make the chapters better, and that's where we are right now. So we've gone through about four additions of the editing, and there are seven sections and 35 chapters, and I love how it's coming together right now. And so I wanted to share with you, my audience here, a little bit more about the book, and also to offer, if anyone is interested in being an early reader of the book, to let me know.
[00:06:41] You can email me, I have the link in the show notes, and I'd be happy to share a chapter with you. The way the book is structured is seven sections, 35 chapters, and it starts with the faith foundations, and it goes all the way through deepening your faith. And there are topics in here that are so relevant to all of us.
[00:07:04] Trust about letting go, about surrender, about believing in something that we cannot see. Having faith, even the size of a mustard seed, for example, and it was great going through and doing a lot of the research on the historical context of the verses and what was happening, because whether you believe it or not.
[00:07:27] Whether you believe that these things happened, if you believe that the stories are about real people, and I do, there is a lesson for all of us, and one of the beautiful things that has come through is allowing readers at all different walks of spiritual life and journey and faith to read the chapters and share with me what it brought to mind for them and how they've internalized it.
[00:07:56] So the way the book is structured, the chapters are, there's the verse itself. I share a little bit more about why I selected it, why it's personal, and what its meaning is for me. I then go in and talk a little bit about what the lesson is and how this has applied to my own life. If there was a journal entry, a time when I was referencing this verse, I would include that as well.
[00:08:24] And then because I love to journal so much and I'm so into embodiment. I do include at the end some activities that you can do, from journaling and embodiment exercises and questions to ask yourself, to allow you to go deeper into the various topics. And I thought I would share this with you because I wanted to highlight some of the things that I think are universal.
[00:08:49] Faith and uncertainty, God's presence in our pain or suffering, whatever we're going through, trusting in divine timing, which is difficult for me, probably for others. Returning to our purpose and thinking about how God provides his provision in all those.
[00:09:07] And then finally receiving this like guidance in healing. And the overall message of the book is hope. It's returning home and knowing that we can come home at any time. I believe these messages are universal, and I also think that these messages are really important. Right now, I'm starting to see so many more people like me returning to faith in a way, and being very clear about what that is, and wherever you are in your spiritual journey.
[00:09:35] I think this book will meet you exactly where it is. It is not a religious book. It is tied into scripture, and it is through my lens. And I do hope that it is helpful for wherever you are and for anyone in any walk of life. So if you are interested in being an early reader, that would be amazing.
[00:09:55] I'm going to start posting more of these episodes in which I'm inviting early readers to be guests on the show, and we talk about it. We won't do all the chapters, but we will do that. You'll have an opportunity if you are interested in getting on the wait list for the book once I announce the date and learning more about when all of this will be available, and I'll do that as well.
[00:10:17] And if you're just curious or you want to provide some feedback, you can send me a message, DM me on all my social channels on Instagram or LinkedIn, or of course, email me at any time. And if you want to be part of the sacred launch journey, I will include a link in the show notes so you can join the early reader team.
[00:10:36] And if there's anything that I can do for you in the interim, let me know. I appreciate you listening, and we'll have more of these episodes in the upcoming weeks, and as soon as we get closer to the publication date, I will share the details with you. Thank you so much.
[00:10:52] Thank you for listening to today's episode. If today's conversation inspired you to dream again, break out of your comfort zones or reflect on what it means to you to live more fully, then please follow this podcast because every week you'll hear more stories from people just like you who took imperfect action towards their goals, created more joy and are living the life that they always dreamt of living.