Hello, Dr. Gibson, and welcome to DivineCaroline. Would you please briefly introduce yourself?
I am a board-certified psychiatrist and I have been writing for over fifteen years. I grew up in the deep south and a lot of my work is shaped by my experiences as both a southerner and a physician. I have lectured and spoken in many different parts of the world and I write full time.
You’re currently on tour with your book: Nine Insights for a Happy and Successful Life. Would you please tell us about your book?
The Nine Insights is a book that is designed to be a guide for those who wish to rise above the suffering and confusion that so often marks this path of existence. As a medical professional, the Creator has given me thousands of profound moments of transformational insight. I began keeping notes on these insights and stored them away in a journal that over time, became the basis for this work.
From time to time, I shared these insights with friends, family, clients, and colleagues. Simple in their presentation, profound in their scope, The Nine Insights are meant only as a reference. Each chapter presents one insight as a unique entity. The stories and vignettes that support each insight are in large part based on my personal clinical experiences. From time to time, I have included a number of famous stories from history that help to outline the deeper perspectives of some of the insights.
What inspired you to write Nine Insights?
The stories and vignettes that support each insight are in large part based on my personal clinical experiences. From time to time, I have included a number of famous stories from history that help to outline the deeper perspectives of some of the insights. By listening to my clients, I learned that they were in fact great teachers. When I was in private practice, I listened to thousands of life stories from people in many different walks of life. I got a firsthand look at how life made a person successful and happy, or miserably unhappy failures. From these experiences, I developed a host of insights that are reflected in the book. If you watch life long enough, it will teach you what works.
What do you think causes the most unhappiness for people today?
Fear of dreaming. I believe that far too many people have become afraid to dream for fear that they will not come true. When you lose the power to dream, unhappiness is the result. Dreams are the root of happiness. Seeing your dreams come true is the greatest and most fulfilling event in life.
Do you feel happiness and success go hand in hand? You can’t have one without the other?
They are both two sides of the same coin. Sometimes, we avoid being too successful because of the effect it might have on those around us. In this way, we truncate our happy times for those that are less than what we deserve. Living in fear of the depths of happiness creates a shallow life.
What would you like readers to know about you beyond your role as an author?
I get up around 7:00-7:30 a.m. I meditate for around one hour. I shower, go to the office to perform consultations until around 2 p.m. Three to four days a week I work out. I try to write every day, at least five to ten pages. Sometimes more. I love movies so I watch something daily. I love comedies and science fiction. I spend a lot of time with my two children and my wife Kathy.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I am completing two books. One is a sci-fi fantasy entitled The First Darkness. It is a story about an angel that develops a fatal illness and comes to earth in search of a cure. The second is a follow up to Ancient Teaching Stories. It is a book that contains a series of concise and thought-provoking stories from a number of spiritual traditions from around the world.
You can find me at my website: http://www.tybro.com
Thank you for your time, Dr. Gibson.
