12 INSIGHTS

12 Insights is a true portrait of the quintessential nature of the human spirit, 12 Insights is a courageous collection of the personal accounts of the life experiences of 12 phenomenal men and women who offer critical understandings of their examined lives.

FOREWORD

Life is a spiritual proposition involving millions of fragments conjoined to shape the interior landscape of this human experience. When inventoried, the emotional storehouse vividly displays a wide range of emotions; from joy and pain to bliss, disappointments and despair. The truths about life, the question of what one is, and the notion of what one may be to his fellowman are all expressed within the collection of tenets birth in philosophical, pragmatic, and religious imitations and ideations of life. The proverbial insights developed become the force of life; whether one’s movement is up or down. If one is fortunate enough the fragmented pieces identify a specific call upon life. Philosophy encourages self-introspection and states that the unexamined life is not worth living. Religion argues philosophy is not a way of life and looking inward for life’s meaning is useless, as one cannot self-identify the purpose of life. If philosophy and religion provide few definitive answers, or conflict one another; then mankind can rely only on pragmatic pretenses. Therefore, one must strive for deeper insight and commit to a social engineering that furthers the human capacity for love, faith, and empathy; if not then one exists merely in the margins of humanity and lives without the crucial guidance and influence of proper insight. Insight is the gateway to knowledge, wisdom, and truth. With strong insight, both religion and philosophy can serve their true purposes; men and women can live meaningfully with clarity and direction; and the interior landscape of life is illuminated for safe travel. This book, 12 Insights, is an honest, honorable, and inviting work of literature that encourages the heart, warms the soul, and excites the spirit. 12 Insights also helps one make sense of the fragments connecting human life to human life. Enter this gateway with expectation and intrepidness; but most of all, be willing to walk in the meandering meadows of your mind and discover a new collection of thoughts and sentiments that will surely lead you to wherever you desire to go. I trust love, faith, and empathy will be common destinations; and these 12 Insights become the paths you travel.

12 Insights $28.95

Inside Book Cover

A true intellectual and staunch advocate for living life in the upper chambers, Ron Hickey asked 12 Americans who have had the most influence over his life to open up and share the most remarkable human experiences of their lives: “How can we share our most remarkable life experiences in such a manner that we allow others to draw deep insight and find powerful inspiration that transmits to posterity, acknowledging that we’re living in very transient times in which there is much difficulty in the basic ability to tell the truth about ourselves?”

A true portrait of the quintessential nature of the human spirit, 12 Insights is a courageous collection of the personal accounts of the life experiences of 12 phenomenal men and women who offer critical understandings of their examined lives.

Our struggles, our pains, our not-so-favorable life experiences; are not necessarily harmful or negative things. Struggle is the birth-place of great power, great beauty, and great human feats. Our levels of glory, grace, and dignity are abased in the quality of the experience. 12 Insights is an example and a witness to this truth.

12 Insights is a pragmatic integration of every day human endeavor and higher spiritual instincts and intellect. Ron Hickey displays an exceptional level of sagacity in fleshing out and literarily expressing deep knowledge, vast wisdom, and raw truths in his artistic expansion of the 12 extraordinary human anecdotes. 12 Insights offers critical analyses of extreme realities and fills the soul with new understandings and tacit knowledge.

The quality of our lives is immersed in our willingness to openly share our experiences for the collective good. Nine out of the ten parts of mankind tend to drudge through life in this noise filled universe. One is hard pressed to hear her own cries, much less the cries of others. We find peace in the most improbable of places and console ourselves with the courage and unadulterated laughter of our children. What manner of people are we that we still find the ability to dream, be inspired, and transcend our narratives? There is much hope for Americans, for at the end of our imperfections, at the limits of our knowledge, in the margins of our existence; we harbor an amazing ability to come together when the struggle calls for it. 12 Insights is an amazing coming together, because the struggle calls for it.

Commissioned Talents:

Annette Harris
Annie Tautz
Eileen Aguba Chen
Eric C. Brown
James O. Powell
Robert L. Hickey
Rochelle Prejean-Matthews
Terrence E. Schofield
Wornel Simpson