Today we talk about Finding Peace, a book by Jess Smith published with our Publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Jess Smith, to get to know her better, the particular moment of her life that inspired her to the writing of her autobiographical book Finding Peace, as well as the sensations she felt by ‘reading’ her life on the pages of her book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your autobiographical book?
It was so interesting how Finding Peace was born. I had been working as a coach both privately and in the wonderful online community of my mentor and coach Dr Amy Johnson Phd. After 5 years, I had stepped down from my role of community support and coaching, to focus on my own coaching business. What happened next was a beautiful example of how life is always guiding us and how we never know what is possible in the coming moments. I sat down to write my story of how I had suffered for most of my life with crippling anxiety and fear and how it is always possible to recover and reclaim your peace and joy. I wrote this primarily to offer to my clients as extra support, but to my surprise, I was offered a publishing contract and Finding Peace began its journey.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
I wrote this book with the intention of letting others know that if they are suffering with anxiety. addictions, fear or panic, that they are not alone. I remember how much comfort it brought me to read of book that reminded me of this and that would remind me, I could recover. I needed to share a story of hope, because when you are caught in the loop of fearful thinking, it can feel truly hopeless and it’s not. It is always possible to break the code, to remember your strength and resilience and to uncover the peace that is yours by birthright. This message is so important to and I want to shout it from the rooftop, because I see so many people suffering, purely due to a misunderstanding of what is causing their fear.
- What significant life experiences find expression in your book?
In my book! share some of the toughest moments of my life. Being a fearful child, afraid of leaving home. Afraid of school and eating. So much so, that I wandered the streets at lunchtime at 5 years old, to avoid school dinners! To being a new mum afraid of my baby, in case he was sick. A violent home life as a child that made me believe nowhere was safe. Trying to be an adult, with the voices in my head of that terrified child and trying to hide it all behind the mask of normality. I share these experiences as I walk beside the reader in their difficult journey and I also share the hope that runs through my story and into theirs too. I don’t write as someone who is cured, but more as someone who knows what it is to be human, to get caught up in fear and then to remember who you truly are and how you are safe, even in the fear.
- What sensations did you feel by ‘reading’ your life on the pages of your book?
When I was writing Finding Peace, it brought up a lot of emotion, overwhelm and old “stuff. Lots of big feelings, but it was quite cleansing to get it all out. It wanted to be seen and felt and I knew I could trust the process. It was like a case of literary diarrheal No holding back what wanted to be written. I couldn’t re read the draft for some time. I just needed to let it be, but I did read the final draft after production and I did feel hugely grateful and emotional that my thoughts were here in writing to reach others that need to hear them. Holding the printed book in my hands felt incredible. The idea that even when I am gone, it will still be here, helping others be less afraid and experience more peace. It felt meaningful.
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
I am currently propagating the idea for my next book, it will be around health and dis ease. About the fear around these things in the health industry and how we are disconnected from our own healing potential and our own wisdom. I also have self-published a book called Emetophobia and Me. It is focussed more on my intense fear of vomiting and what has helped me put that noise in the background and live without it controlling my life. I managed to get it to number 1 bestseller in category and get a feature in the Daily Mail. My other book Unmasked is about how the covid era woke up to the society of fear that we live in and to an even deeper knowing that we can trust our instinct and the intelligence of life and do not need to be constantly vigilant to threats we cannot see with our own eyes, or hear with our own ears. I share about who benefits from us being in fear and why we are better following our own wisdom that following the crowd.
Europe Books thanks the author, Jess Smith, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book I Finding Peace. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, may this book remind you that you are not alone and that you can always recover from the darkest and most tormented moments without ever abandoning hope and the courage to act!
So, my dear readers, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading! Above all, talk about it and don’t withdraw into yourself.
Your editor!