With windows to his past used as a backdrop to the main purpose of his new novel, "Reflections of My Higher Self", Joseph Danna's introspective odyssey about the crossroads of psychology with spirituality is educational, as it ascends the heights of metaphor in a journey through alternate realities.
The roots of human identity are examined and shown as either based in the truth about us as universal beings, or in what is false. The writing explains how the whole trajectory of our perception, especially of others, begins with how we see ourselves. But the crux of the story reveals that how we see ourselves is often maligned due to an unconscious error, which manifests as chaos in the world. The only remedy for this error is the truth, which for protagonist Salvatore DiSanti and his troubled past, escalates to magnificent displays of his innocence.
The presentation is not only read, but felt, as it depicts the science of life as of One Essence. It shows how beneath every conflict we are facets of a greater whole with a larger purpose. After the order of Bob Olsen, Teal Swan, Penney Peirce and Ziad Masri, for the world to grasp the implications of the universal principles laid out in "Reflections of My Higher Self" would be the most profound step humanity could now take.
What started as a 500-word short story assignment gained its own momentum, surprising me when it developed into a 52,000-word novel. The information I had stored somewhere in the back of my mind related to identity, belief, and perception, was expressed against a backdrop of my life while growing up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Little did I know what was to unfold would turn out to be a showcase for the natural laws of the universe.
Ron's "The Narrow Gate" Review December 29, 2010