The Imagine Project: Stories of Courage, Hope and Love - Hardcover

Dianne Maroney

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0988995107 ISBN 13: 9780988995109

Publisher: Yampa Valley Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

John Lennon showed us the power of the word Imagine when he asked us to Imagine Peace. In this inspirational and motivational book, the word Imagine is used to tell remarkable stories of ordinary people who have overcome and persevered through a variety of astonishing circumstances. The reader is invited to Imagine to lose themselves if only for a short while through reading these extraordinary stories of people from all across the US. Through listening to and reflecting on these incredible paths of personal fulfillment and transformation. You will feel encouraged, motivated and inspired to turn inward and reflect on your own story.

About this title

About the Author:

Dianne Maroney, RN, MSN is an inspiring and motivational nurse. She spent much of her early career working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery. When her daughter was born 14 weeks premature, weighing only 1 lb, 12 oz, Dianne went back to school to educate herself on the plight of parenting a preemie. She holds a Masters degree in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Science Center. She has worked with infants and families for years, helping with the long-term effects of early life trauma. Along with her professional training, Dianne incorporates alternative therapies to help clients quickly find the root of their issue and move through their problems with compassion and grace. Dianne Maroney, RN, MSN Professional Speaker/Author/Founder of The Imagine Project Dianne Maroney, RN, MSN is an inspiring and motivational nurse. She spent much of her early career working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery. When her daughter was born 14 weeks premature, weighing only 1 lb, 12 oz, Dianne went back to school to educate herself on the plight of parenting a preemie. She holds a Masters degree in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Science Center. She has worked with infants and families for years, helping with the long-term effects of early life trauma. Along with her professional training, Dianne incorporates alternative therapies to help clients quickly find the root of their issue and move through their problems with compassion and grace. Through years of speaking professionally to nurses, doctor, and parents, Dianne found a beautiful system to help others heal by writing their story using the Imagine . In 2010, Dianne decided to take this design beyond the prematurity world and she began traveling across the United States meeting ordinary people with extraordinary stories. She quickly realized the power and resilience of the human spirit and our natural ability to overcome incredible circumstances. Dianne created the book, The Imagine Project: Stories of Courage, Hope and Love. The book portrays ordinary people with extraordinary stories. The stories featured in the book teach us that what makes us human is our ability to overcome any obstacle and find hope, joy, peace, and happiness in our lives. The Imagine Project has won 7 top National Literary Awards. Dianne has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including The Meredith Vieira Show. Dianne also dedicates herself to volunteering. She won Volunteer of the Year from the Colorado Chapter of The March of Dimes and the Feel Good Friday Award from KDVR in Denver. She also published numerous articles and has published two other books; Your Premature Baby and Child and Your Imagine Journey. In July 2015, Dianne founded The Imagine Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit humanitarian organization, and refined the mission of The Imagine Project to give kids ages 5 to 18 a voice to rewrite their own life stories through guided creative journaling bringing positive change into their lives and those of future generations. The Imagine Project helps kids realize that they have power over their story, their story doesn t have power over them and gives them the simple tools to imagine their dreams into real life.

Review:

A collection of photographs and inspirational stories of individuals who have overcome obstacles or worked toward humanitarian causes. In this debut coffee-table book, Maroney brings together dozens of personal stories, each accompanied by photographs of the narrators and identified with thematic titles gift, heritage, winning, resolve, etc. Each narrative is a series of sentences beginning with Imagine... followed by an element of the narrator s story: For instance, Imagine...appreciating what you ve left behind only after seeing this new and different land, says a woman who moved back and forth between Japan and the United States. Or Imagine...standing at a stranger s door, a can of paint and paintbrush in your hands, hoping they will let you paint their house for free, from a man who found new purpose in good deeds after his wife died. Some stories reflect the narrator s triumph over a difficult past a teenager who grew up in the foster care system and went on to win a national financial literacy competition, a musician who performs despite being born with cerebral palsy, etc. while others are more about the individuals choices, such as using yoga as the basis for a microfinance operation. A few of the featured individuals have been associated with headline-making events, such as the ER staff who treated the mass-shooting victims in Aurora, Colorado, and a Columbine High School graduate who learned forgiveness. But most share victories on a smaller scale, acclimating to an adopted homeland or touching lives through low-budget philanthropy. While all the contributors stories are uplifting, they avoid the clichés of motivational speeches, and the spare prose keeps even the most tragic stories from becoming maudlin. The book is well-designed, too a simple blue, black and white palette allows the words and pictures to draw the reader s full attention. An attractive, compelling collection of stories and photographs related to conquering adversity and imagining vibrant possibilities. --Kirkus

About this edition

• Publisher: Yampa Valley Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0988995107
• ISBN 13: 9780988995109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Helga Schier, PhD
• Illustrator: Photographer Is Mario Masitti