Self Help, Spiritual Inspiration
Date Published: 06-02-2021
This is a thought-provoking and enlightening exploration of spirituality and perception. The text functions as a guide to self-improvement, with a mixture of autobiographical elements and snippets of universal wisdom. The speaker provides accessible solutions to life's difficulties, and an outlook of optimism applicable to any circumstance. The illustrations and graphics are thoughtfully chosen, and the interactive textual elements give this work an originality that sets it apart. The speaker's own experiences and conclusions are at the heart of this fiction, and the first-person narrative voice creates a sense of proximity between author and reader. The text describes itself as 'a journey to the heart', and this truthful discovery of the self is reflected in the speaker's revelation of his whole self through the text. The narrative often presents a dichotomy between positive and negative outlooks or voices.
For example, the speaker includes sections in which his self-doubt speaks, 'you've got no proper education, you can't spell properly, you're dyslexic and your grammar is crap. You're not really a writer'. This negative voice directly opposes the sense of self-belief the speaker builds within the narrative. He uses examples such as this to remind readers that the journey to happiness is complex and that flaws or setbacks are natural. The negative separation or fragmentation of the self is prevalent in the lines, 'I do not love the grumpy me, the sad me, the hostile me, the parts of me that act as if I do not care'. The act of writing represents a unification of the self and an attempt to reframe the speaker's life into coherence. The frequent use of direct address and rhetorical questions promotes an active reading experience, in which the author opens up a dialogue with the reader. The text includes prompts and activities for the reader to engage with and learn from. Encouraging readers to take part in the text is emblematic of their journey to self-fulfillment and love, in which they must take responsibility for actively creating their own happiness.
The speaker depicts his process of enlightenment as a framework for others to emulate, and the format of the text demonstrates the transfer of agency to those who take part in the speaker's challenges at the end of each chapter. This work ultimately teaches us that 'we are the cause of what is' and thus sheds light on the crucial idea that every individual has the power to create themselves and their world positively.
Can you tell us a little about the process of getting this
book published? How did you come up with the idea and how did you start?
Getting the book self-published was not as difficult as I
thought, There was quite a bit of research into the platforms tro use and
technical things lige getting an ISBN for the book. Getting gthe book formatted
for kindle was not too difficult but creating the audio version required quite
an investment of time and technical skill to meet the required audio standard.
What surprised you most about getting your book published?
That getting a book published is onluy half the story the
other half is promoting and getting the book noticed!
Tell us a little about what you do when you aren’t writing
I am an artist and love colour, creating images that go
with my writing is a great inspiration
for me.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
Getting my forst book published was a huge satisfaction for
me and proved to myself that getting an idea and getting it ‘out there’ was
possible.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that
is?
I get my best idears from observation of people and
especially by observing myself. The stuggle to live happily in life is a
massive resource of human accomplishment.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
That my writing can be too deep and obscure.
What has been your best accomplishment as a writer?
The process that has given me great accomplishment id the
discipline to write everyday and to be patrient with the process, to allow
myself time to get into the zone of the work.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have 3 published books and I am ready to publish my 4th
About the Author
Toby Negus is an artist, both with paints and of the spirit. His work reflects a deep commitment to meeting life on its terms and an equally deep understanding of human nature.
Toby has studied and taught spiritual and personal development in the UK and around the world for over two decades. He is qualified in advanced counselling, as a life coach and as a Cognitive Behaviour therapist. He is an Amazon best-selling author of a collaborative Conscious Creators book and has illustrated and self published two books on the subject of self-awareness and the spiritual journey. He has articles published in national magazine and has given talks and run workshops in support of his published work within the UK.
In the last few years, he has created many pieces of artwork that are a reflection of his spiritual journey. These have appeared in magazines and have been exhibited in the UK.
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