Dear Diary: The Book Forward By Tamon Pearson

Forward

By Tamon Pearson

It would be altogether too simple for one to casually dismiss Dawn Johnson’s story, thereby failing to see that - at its core - her story is a discourse regarding one’s personal struggle with God.

The naysayer will attempt to label her story hyperbolic, regarding the tales of drug abuse, teen prostitution, stays in mental institutions and dysfunctional families as nothing more than revenue-inducing fables. The critic will question the order and structure of the direction of her journey; in her writings, she seems to be on her way to attaining spiritual enlightenment on one day, but she is wracked by depression a mere twenty-four hours later. Still another reader will accept her story as is, but would condescend to tag her as a victim or a “poor, poor thing,” someone to be pitied and felt sorry for. Finally, a different soul will be enthralled by her overcoming the demons of her past to becoming a successful entrepreneur, writer, and motivational speaker.

Dawn would not have it any other way. She wants and demands each of those reactions.

Dear Diary: A Letter to my Sister is unapologetic as it takes you through Dawn’s five-year journey from an abused and abandoned teen to a high-school honor student to homeless college undergraduate by day and hard-working escort by night. What rivets you to Dear Diary is the very fact that it is indeed not hyperbolic. There is no exaggeration in this story; in fact, Dawn has publicly stated that Dear Diary is perhaps no more than one-third of the story. The story elicits a wide range of emotions from the reader - sadness, anger, pity; humor, refection - because it is not pulp fiction, but one hundred percent truth. The streets of Hollywood, Compton, and Westchester are all real, and you feel the grit of this realism as you read. Because of this realism, Dear Diary grabs you in its beginning pages, and holds you closely and tightly, with you scarcely able to breath, until the very end. It is multi-directional and choppy because the directions of our minds are often multi-directional and choppy - especially the minds of the young. We would like to think in order, but often we form our thoughts haphazardly, seeking to find forms in the disorder - “eidos in the chaos,” as Plato once said. We seek unity and order for our souls and thoughts. Dear Diary is a glimpse into one woman’s successful attempt at finding that order.

Does Dawn appear to be up and down throughout the pages, mind-of-a-saint on one day, mind-of-a-sinner the next? Yes she does. Dawn reveals, in her up-and down writing, the heart and mind of so many of us. In Dear Diary, she visibly struggles with herself, with her family, and with her God. This internal conflict is honorable and to be commended, not dismissed. After all, the Scriptures themselves tell us that God renamed the patriarch Jacob “Israel”-meaning “one who struggles with God”- after an impromptu bout of God versus man. The difference between Dawn and any of the rest of us is that Dawn, in this novel, has put her spiritual wrestling match on display for all of us to see. She shows us how she asked profound questions at an early age regarding God’s sovereignty, man’s free will, and how the two could harmonize. She allows us to see inside of her, inside her heart, mind, and soul. Through her family, friends, schooling and personal tragedies, she reveals to us-in a manner not unlike Job-how “bad things do happen to good people,” and what one can do about that inevitable fact.

Dawn, in this writing, has given us permission to see - via the lens that is her life - the eternal battles that we all must contend with. She shows us the war between the ease of acquiring money and the dangers that can come with excessive desires for such; she has manifested the internal struggles between her hatred for the men whom have used her and harmed her and her still - enduring desire for that one man who will love her and take care of her. She has shown us both the socialite and the homeless woman. She gives us the paradoxes of the nerd who is popular and the escort who treasures her relationship with God. These struggles are not unique to Dawn, for all of us who are honest enough with ourselves to take inventory of our own struggles can relate to these very quandaries. Each and every single one of us has done the Jacob thing in the midnight hour, struggling with God, weighing the balances between doing what is right and doing what is profitable, wondering if God hears our cries; questioning whether or not our sins can be balanced by God’s mercy and/or judgment. Which of us has not questioned God’s will, or even our own sanity? No one honest with his or herself can avoid seeing themselves in Dear Diary.

Lastly, Dawn is also very conscious of the fact that her struggles are not unique, and she takes great pleasure in the fact that others can be reached and helped through her story. Proudly, and yet humbly, Dawn has come through her struggle with God and has emerged intact. In Dear Diary: A Letter to My Sister, she has returned to tell the tale to the rest of us.

It would behoove us to take heed.

In a World full of CHAOS I'd be remiss
to not let you know to HOLD ON - POSSIBILITIES EXIST™
I love you, and there's absolutely, positively, nothin you can do about it!!!

Dawn The Self-Esteem Queen™

© 2009 Dawn The Self-Esteem Queen™ All rights reserved.
H.O.P.E (Hold on, Possibilities Exist) is a Registered Trademark for Dawn Johnson/SEQ Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dawn The Self Esteem Queen™ is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, business coach & small business consultant, serial entrepreneur and spoken word artist. Founder of the SEQ/H.O.P.E. Movement™, Dawn uses her trials to mentor, minister, and coach people all over the World. One of today’s leading experts on teen mentoring, self-esteem enhancement, personal & professional leadership, and entrepreneur development, Dawn’s mission in life is to teach individuals how to BE BETTER Human Beings. Her goal is to raise awareness and eradicate the exploitation of teenagers all over the Globe. Her Current Projects include: SEQ Collection Clothing, H.O.P.E. Platinum Coaching™, Sessions with The SEQ™, Stop Teenage Prostitution™, What Does Cancer Look Like™, Consumer Vigilantes™,& the highly anticipated H.O.P.E. Mindset™ Program.

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