As I Lay Pondering: daily invitations to live a transformed life Paperback – January 25, 2012

by Kayce Stevens Hughlett

Like Mark Nepo and Rachel Naomi Remen, Kayce invites us to learn with her day by day as she creates a handmade life. Her stories enlighten while her prompts tickle the heart's ear to listen with more clarity and self-kindness. A beautiful way to spend a few minutes each day. Jennifer Louden, best-selling author and teacher This fresh and innovative daybook hints of a memoir, reads as a guidebook, and resonates with the human experience. Each entry conjures the ineffable with soulful specifics-some tiny and concrete, others dreamily unreal-always seamlessly present. It is no heavy-handed moral guide to self-improvement; rather it is an invitation into the bigness of life. Filled with inspiration, personal reflections, and simple activities to deepen the pathway to presence, it is the ideal companion for any transformational journey. Inspired and timeless, As I Lay Pondering Intimate, relatable stories and practical reflections that bring wordlessness, oneness, and imagination to life. 366 accessible, here-&-now activities to immediately apply to your personal and professional practices. Soulful daily readings to nourish your heart and enrich your life. Incorporated teachings from historical and current wisdom figures-Carl Jung, Martha Beck, Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, Thomas Merton, Sue Monk Kidd, Anne Lamott and more. These daily meditations are a treasure, full of wisdom and creative invitations for your own pondering. Immerse yourself in a year of grace through this book. Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, author The Artist's Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom Content and style are exquisite. Unabashedly riveting and exuberantly rich with philosophical, existential, metaphysical and theosophical inquiries, and introspections-as well as rich, tender, and funny personal insights. Pedro F. Baez, Poet and Transformational Life Coach Literary author Sonya Rudikoff says that history provides abundant examples of men and women whose greatest gift is redeeming, inspiring, liberating, and nurturing the gifts of others. Anyone who witnesses Kayce Stevens Hughlett's personal story and approach to life will agree she belongs on this list. Kayce is a woman who has redeemed a forgotten childhood, dared to follow her wildest dreams, and liberated a parent's worst nightmares. As I Lay Pondering is the essential witness to this transformed life.

Paperback

First published January 25, 2012

About the author

I prefer to read novels in the summer and non-fiction/memoirs in winter.
I prefer writing with a fountain pen over computer keyboards.
I prefer summer in Seattle over winter almost anywhere.
I prefer Paris over Rome. Big dogs over small. Fluffy cats over sleek.

I abhor that the world is filled with suffering, and I know affliction has helped create the individual I am today.
I love music of all kinds, rhythm and movement.
I thrive on new experiences, adore reading, blogging and movies ranging from the romantic to the contemplative.
One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, calls laughter “carbonated holiness” and I couldn’t agree more heartily. Belly laughs are manna from heaven and there is also nothing better than a well-timed temper tantrum.
Play time with friends and family is sacred as is quiet space and solitude.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book of 365 short essays that are full of articulate wisdom intuitive guidance. If you are looking for a book to accompany through a whole year, look no further. You will find much to ponder and feast on here! An excellent gift for anyone who is questing towards personal growth and inner light (including you!).

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Daybooks, books that invite you go deep and reflect on all that is possible. As I Lay Pondering is one of my favorites!

[Claudia Blanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book felt just like a spiritual devotional without centering around a belief system or tied to a particular deity, but instead asks us to take a closer look at the divinity within ourselves.

While each section has a particular date assigned to it and follows a calendar year, I do not believe, that you have to wait until the beginning of the year to begin reading it, as these messages can be useful and inspiring no matter where you start in this book. I love books like that, because even if I am getting a devotional at the end of the year, I am very eager to get started, and hardly have the patience to wait. With this book, you can just jump right in, wherever you are in the year right now.

It's mindful and thoughtful feel, added to the appeal, in a very refreshing and warm way. It made me feel good!

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm loving the daily nuggets of wisdom in this book, I just wish this had been available on January 1st.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked up this gem after reading a few pages from the discounted book section for $8 (original retail price $25.95) at Banyen Books. I’ve enjoyed it very much so far. Just one or two pages a day but I like the prompts for meditation, journaling, or just as the book title suggested, pondering.

Look forward to start it again tomorrow (Jan 01, 2025).

[Kayce Hughlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I adore this book. I wrote it. It was my "first" and I love that it was a portal into my future as a woman and author. Like a first lover, "As I Lay Pondering" has its flaws, but it is full of heart and angst. Would I change some things, of course. AND it is perfect as it is.