SPOTLIGHT & EXCERPTS - Being Pyotr Ilyich: by Chris Nielsen

C.C. King
4 days ago
4 min read

A Spiritual Journey of Healing

Hey, writers!

A sepia-toned book cover with a bearded man's portrait. Text: "Being Pyotr Ilyich" by Chris Nielsen, about Tchaikovsky. Foreword by Daniel Meurois.

Every so often, I like to share a spotlight post that introduces you to a new book and lets the writing speak for itself.

Today I’m featuring Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky's Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later by Chris Nielsen.

I always find it interesting how creative work can open into larger questions—about identity, memory, and the meaning we make from our experiences.

The book is a a spiritual memoir that blends creativity, history, and questions about the deeper threads of human experience.

Below, you’ll find a few excerpts to explore.

Enjoy !

~ CC

Excerpts from the book:

From the Prologue

An autumn light, hard, completely lacking in the tender yellow of the summer sun. A light that blinds, without rejoicing, without warming. The sun just cheats. It is really cold in this sharp white light.

On Neva’s quay, my view sinks into the void, my eyes are completely lost in the depths of the water. I want to feel the nothingness, to become one with this water and simply forget everything, absolutely everything. It’s cold outside, it’s cold inside me.

This feeling of emptiness, which is not unusual to me at all, is the most terrible thing that the human soul can feel. Depression has been my companion on countless occasions in these 53 years of tormented life inside me. And now the gap is bigger, more painful. It opens inside me like a huge hole, which threatens to swallow me.

My soul despairs in silence. I feel like a lost passenger at a train station in a city where they don’t know anyone whom they could ask for shelter overnight. What do you do when you feel there is no one to go to anymore? Anyone else who could understand you?

Everything seems like a closed circle, from which you can’t escape, whatever you do. Absolutely whatever you do. And where it hurts the most, you feel like you can’t go back: Bob . . .

I begin to see everything with a chill that cuts into living flesh. I look at myself from the outside, as if I’m already starting to detach from my own being. When you get to this point, the decision becomes clear, harsh, and you start acting mechanically. You are no longer human. Everything you do from now on becomes as precise as a Swiss watch.

I enter the pharmacy from where I have taken so many medicines, for my countless and annoying sufferings. I don’t actually hear what I’m being told anymore, I’m not paying attention at all. I’m in a cold trance. There is a strong smell of balms and disinfectants of all kinds floating in the air and I feel that any form of smell bothers me. I have slept so badly lately. My whole being is like a stretched-out bow, ready to break at any moment.

Read additional excerpts:

More About the Book:

A sepia-toned book cover features an older man with a beard. Text: "Being Pyotr Ilyich" by Chris Nielsen. Foreword by Daniel Meurois.

Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later is a confessional spiritual memoir that explores the deeper meaning of human suffering, love, and creative purpose through the lens of soul memory.

Born from an extensive process of past-life and between-lives regression, the book recounts Chris Nielsen’s unexpected discovery of a former life as the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—and the profound emotional wounds, unfinished lessons, and spiritual insights that followed her into this lifetime. Moving beyond biography, the book uses Tchaikovsky’s life as a case study to illuminate how trauma, grief, identity, and longing echo across incarnations.

Blending personal experience with therapeutic and spiritual reflection, Chris offers readers a rare glimpse into the mechanics of incarnation, life purpose, and healing from the perspective of the Higher Self. At its core, this book is not about the past—it is about understanding why we are here, how love shapes our evolution, and how deep inner clarity can transform pain into meaning.

This is a book for seekers, creatives, and anyone longing to understand the hidden threads that connect suffering, love, and the soul’s long journey home.

Pick up a copy of Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky's Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later

ISBN-10: ‎9730378851

ISBN-13: ‎978-9730378856

ASIN: B0BTZTG87W

Print length: 205 pages

Grab a copy of Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later on Amazon and Bookshop.org. Add it to your GoodReads reading list.

All About the Author

Author photo of Chris Nielson, a woman with dark hair, wearing a white shirt, smiling slightly while resting their chin on their hand. Plain gray background.

Chris Nielsen is a spiritual author, regression therapist, and podcaster exploring the deeper meaning of incarnation, healing, and soul evolution. She is the author of Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later, a confessional spiritual memoir born from an extensive process of past-life regression. Through her writing and her podcast, "Time Traveling – A Spiritual Journey of Healing," Chris examines themes of love, grief, soul memory, and the transformative power of human experience. With a background in arts communication and cultural marketing, she brings clarity and discernment to complex spiritual subjects. Her work has been featured in ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Business Insider, and the Miami Herald.