Self Help, Spiritual Inspiration
Date Published: 06-21-2021
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.
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.He is a published author of three books ‘The
Sacred You – how to be your own saviour; and A Spiritual Journal – a
collection of art and writings celebrating the human spirit. He is a
collaborative author of Conscious Creators books and magazines that have
become best sellers on Amazon. And he has published a children’s book on
manifesting ‘The Boy Who Dreamed in Colour’Toby has always been fascinated
with how and why we do what we do and became a student to himself and the
world around me at an early age. At 21 he joined a modern day ‘mystery
school’ and spent 20 years in the study of the esoteric world of energy,
ancient cultures, self-development and the hermetic laws. Within this, he
became a teacher to groups in the UK, Israel and Denmark. This journey
caused the acquisition of an abundant treasure of principles that help free
the mind and heal the heart in practical and sustainable ways.His art
flourished in the creation of the book The Sacred You, where he illustrated
the deep and sometimes elusive principles within self-development. His work
as now grown to a substantial collection of art and words that heal the
heart and free the mind
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