The Heart Knows What the Mind Cannot See
by Toby Negus
GENRE: Self-help, Mind Body Spirit,
BLURB:
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-fulfilment 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.
Excerpt:
Real learning isnot what we expect. If we could expect it, it wouldn’t be learning.
I looked in the mirror today and saw more than who I thought I was; within the eyes was a million years of purpose. I saw the depth of the universe and felt its unfaltering love. It was as if I had seen the divine within myself, the truth of who we are. The us that never dies, the custodian of our purpose, the love of our life.
This wasn’t what I expected and was somewhat sobering. There was no blinding light, no sound of trumpets, and no big handshake with an almighty. But it was as profound as if there had been. For it seemed I was touching an eternal part of myself, an authority within that could create my heaven on earth, that was already in heaven on earth! It was a glimpse of something other than the me I thought I was. Its light questioned the lack of self-care and love I held for myself. And its presence would eventually crack and then dissolve my view of what I thought it meant to be human.
Doing a spiritual journey and tackling self-development issues can give many profound perceptions, and I have had my fair share of them. But this was different, this was personal. It was my eyes that were looking at me, something that I could not escape from. It could not be brushed off as a ‘perhaps’ or a nice perception that subsided over time. Its truth seemed to embed itself into my very soul.
Interview with Toby Negus
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
The heart is a chamber of the miraculous and the source of well-being that fits like a glove to who you are. It is the part of you that knows why you are here; the remembrance of some lost forgotten vow I made for this life.
A song without heart carries no life.
It is from the heart that comes so many defining qualities of love and the human adventure of life. It is the source of our abiding happiness, because the wish of the heart is for our happiness. It knows what is best for us because it knows us intimately. Within its chamber lives our loves, hopes, and our dreams.
The heart is the source of all the world’s greatness. It can pull star dreams to earth, for the heart has created all the wonders of the world, all the gifts of humanity and all the songs of love. It is the home of an innocence, a wise innocence that dispels the cynicism I hold in myself and of myself.
It is the place of our truth, not the truth of yesterday or tomorrow that my mind struggles to know, but the truth of the moment, the living truth. And when I allow it, it is a cathedral of light. A library of illumined text that describes the union of my heaven and earth. Its call has the power to move mountains or create the gentlest touch of love. It is the artist within, the writer of meanings, and the manifestor of dreams.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
I often find it tough at the beginning of the day. It takes toime for me to get ionto the swing of writing, so I learnt to be gentle with myself in those initial blank mind states, knowing that in time I will again be able to write well. When I do ‘connect’ to my subject it is inspiring and I become filled with energy. But the slog of correcting and refining the work, once written is tiring.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I do both because it must be ‘original’ from me but its got to be written in a way that is applicable to the readers life. That they can get and use what is spoken about.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
My love of writing came about from a wish to express and explain the wisdoms that I had found in the 68 years of living and striving for happiness in a world that is often carless to the heart of man. I also felt that heart was seriously underestimated an misunderstood. The heart is the source of all heroic deeds and all the lights of the world, for all great achievements are born from an idea of love. Without love, hope has no home, courage no direction, and fortitude no purpose.
It is why we dance and why we give. It brings meaning to life for without love there is no colour, no passion, and no joy. Its presence can sustain us through the darkest hours, the wildest storms and can give comfort in the loneliest of times. It calms the troubled mind, mends the broken heart, and brings home the wandering soul. It is a bond that can bring a nation together, a family together and its presence holds our self together. It gives strength for a leap of faith, a trust in life, a wish for tomorrow and a living of the day.
Love is why we live.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Toby Negus 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 is also a published author of a children’s book The Boy Who Dreamed in Colour. He 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.
2 comments:
I really enjoyed the interview and the excerpt.
Thanks for the great interview and excerpt. The book sounds very interesting. Thanks!
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