Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we interviewed author Anastasia Lindsey about her writing and her recently book, O C E A N , a collection of poems that’s at once reflective and poignant. (Read the review here.)

ANASTASIA LINDSEY is a timeless soul and author who participates in inter-dimensional traveling and building beau-tiful poems to capture the hearts of souls around the world in the most loving and supportive ways possible. 

This humble writer was born and raised in a small town in Illinois where she cur-rently resides in a beautiful, cozy little house on a patch of land with the love of her life, Dakota. 

Anastasia has been writing since grade school and has always used empathy, pain, and—most importantly—love as her muse to write poems that help heal. Although an author, she is also the owner of a small business, Summer Solace Holistic Healing & Poetry, where she uses different modalities to help others heal, including Reiki, Meditation, Sound Healing, Hypnosis, and has recently started her journey into Shaman-ism. Just when others think there couldn’t possibly be more, she always enjoys painting, drawing, crafting, and singing. She even auditioned for The Voice in 2017. 

Her angelic soul and empathetic nature make her one of a kind in this world. Her words take you on many journeys with the strong hope of allowing you to return back home, safe and in love. 

Twitter: I just created it so I’m fairly new to the platform: @anampoetry_

Facebook: Summer Solace Holistic Healing & Poetry

Website: Summersolacehealing.com

Instagram: @anamariepoetry

Many of the poems in O C E A N almost read like journal entries. Can you tell us more about how this collection came to be? Did they start as something personal like journal entries, or were they always meant to be shared?

I came to the point in my healing journey where I was ready to share my “journal entries”. I knew that a big part of my healing was not only going to come from writing about these events, but also sharing them. As I continued to share – people would tell me they felt as if a certain poem was written just for them. After much consideration, I decided to put them into a book to help people not feel so alone, to encourage them to start their own healing journey, and know that there is support out there in the world. I am a firm believer that when we begin to heal, we give others the strength to do so as well. My vulnerability was helping another person conjure up their strength to start their journey.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

If I could tell my younger writing self anything, I would tell her not to be afraid to make a career out of writing. Although I never stopped writing, I went to college for something I thought would make me money because I grew up thinking that I wouldn’t be able to be a writer and live a successful and financially free life. I would tell her not to be afraid of that voice that’s telling her she can be and will be a very successful writer and that her gift is needed. I would tell her that writing is a great way to channel her sensitive energy into beautiful poems that others can relate too and that the gift of her words will always bring her home within.

The poems in O C E A N defy convention by having no titles. I’m curious to hear from you about why you decided not to title them?

A couple of reasons! Firstly, because some of my poems have such depth, I struggled to find titles because I felt like the ideas I had couldn’t match the energy of the poem. My titles fell short of the poem and I felt as if they placed a limiting barrier on them, which leads to my second reason. I really wanted O C E A N to be for the reader. Maybe they have their own take on a poem. O C E A N was truly composed for the reader to be in full control – including having the decision on what they would want a poem to be titled (if they came up with one). I wanted my book to feel very free and be open – not limited by any means.

O C E A N is divided into several overarching sections: Deep Waters, Wading, The Shore, and Sand Castles. When did you know you wanted to use these sections/themes to divide the collection?

I work heavily with “the other side” (my spirit team, angels, guardians, and God) and after many moments of thoughtful prayer and meditation – the idea came to me. I can see visions from the other side, and I was repeatedly shown images of water during my writing process. I started to think about my poems and how they correlate with the healing properties of water itself and knew that there were many phases to water. I started to think about my favorite place – being on the beach, and how each time that I’ve been, the waters have been quite different. Deep Waters, Wading, The Shore, Sandcastles: they all represented a certain energy for a unique group of poems. I knew that by separating poems by the aquatic energy, readers would be able to use their intuition for each section where they would see that ‘Deep Waters’ consists of poems that are deeper in nature (healing). Water, naturally, is ever flowing, changing, and resilient. My intention was that each poem would allow the reader to flow, change, and heal through all phases.

Which poems in the collection are your favorites? Why?

One of my favorite poems demonstrates the love that my partner and I have for one another. My partner is the truest love I’ve ever encountered and it’s a love like no other! I wanted to showcase that with this poem below.

“our love/ strong enough to create tsunami’s/ that wash away disease/ strong enough to create mountains / that put an end to violence / strong enough to create earthquakes / that put an end to famine / strong enough to create hurricanes / that rids poverty forever / strong enough to erupt a volcano / that puts an end to war”

Another favorite poem of mine also deals with my relationship. It’s very safe to say that the love I have with my partner is one of my favorite parts about my life. He has created a safe and warm environment for me to grow and flourish in. He has always seen me and fully encouraged me to be myself.

“I never had to climb the tallest of mountains/ nor reach the depths of the ocean/ I never had to burn bright like the sun/ nor jump a million hurdles/ your only request/ your only ask of me/ was that I be myself/ thank you”

Another one of my favorite poems is one that I wrote when I felt like it had been days since I had seen sun. I wanted to paint a picture that unveiled a depth of sadness that I was feeling. I like this poem because in just a few lines, I feel as if I was able to uncover a vivid picture for the reader.

“I can’t help but think/ that when it rains/ the sky is spilling my secrets/ I cry and share my pain/ I would whisper to the clouds/ the things I never told a soul/ my secrets must have been heavy to carry/ because – / it’s sure raining down on me”

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a poet?

As a poet, sometimes our emotions are so deep that it’s hard to craft a poem using words that fully express what we are feeling. There is a deep level of complexity that a poet feels and finding the right words that depict our deepest emotions can often be quite difficult. Another challenge I’ve faced is having my art be done and complete – but wondering which hands to place it in. Which publisher will see my book for its entirety? Which literary agent will read my poems and feel the depth of love that I laced into my words? There is an element of unknown that a poet faces when their art is complete. Those have been the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a poet but I always lean heavily on my intuition to lead the way. I act with my emotions and trust what I am feeling is leading me to the things, people, and places I am meant to encounter.

Your bio mentions that you use meditation, hypnosis, and reiki techniques in your work to help others find healing. How does that work inform your poetry in O C E A N, or vice versa?

I love this question! I actually created some of the poems in the book in a way that the reader believes they are simply just “reading the poem” but really they are reading them as an affirmation, which I use with every client. “I am an artful cosmic being / an embodied woman / existing like the waves in the ocean”/ Affirmations sculpt your mind for positive thinking. Affirmations are phrases that one might repeat to themselves like “I am beautiful, I love myself, & I am enough”. I created some of my poems to read as an affirmation so that the reader can sculpt their mind to really believe that they are an artful cosmic being and so much more. I also use Reiki on myself as I am writing and going through the creative process so that my words may be channelled and written with healing and soothing energy. The act of Reiki helps me especially when I find a certain poem a little hard to write about. I also believe 100% that reading, whether it be poetry or any novel – is a form of meditation. Meditation is simply just being completely present in the current moment! I do feel like all the realms of my soul co-create together and merge into beautiful masterpieces.

Throughout O C E A N, mindfulness exercises are interspersed between the poems. What led you to include those in the book?

I knew that I wanted my poetry book to be one that is healing and I knew that some of my poems had the possibility of allowing emotions to surface for the reader and I wanted a way to reach them during their darkest hours but also wanted a way for my readers to initiate self healing (we all have the ability to heal ourselves, we just don’t know where to start). Even within my spiritual abilities, I’m just the medium, the guide, the support that helps people along the way, but the healing is done from within each person. These are exercises that have helped me or helped a client of mine and they don’t require materials, money, or even extra effort. Sometimes we need the simple exercises that make a great impact – i.e. affirmations.

What do you hope readers will take away from O C E A N?

I hope my readers realize that they aren’t alone, that healing is possible, and love is around the corner – especially love for the self. I hope that O C E A N sparks a journey of healing for each reader and that they close each page knowing they have someone in the world that understands them. My biggest wish for O C E A N is that each reader sees something beautiful within themselves that gives them the courage to make it back to their own shore.

Twitter: I just created it so I’m fairly new to the platform: @anampoetry_

Facebook: Summer Solace Holistic Healing & Poetry

Website: Summersolacehealing.com

Instagram: @anamariepoetry

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