To sell out crowds in 1981 Andre Gregory, like Gill, brought his own ideas about the world to the public. "My Dinner With Andre" starred the stage-director Gregory and playwright-actor Wally Shawn playing themselves as they met for a two hour dinner in a quiet New York restaurant. What happened after that is film history as director Louis Malle's masterpiece unfolds. The filming was made over a series of weeks until Gregory and Shawn completely forgot they were being filmed as they talked of life incessantly.

In his film Gregory describes his journeys to the far reaches of the world to search for life's true meaning. There he sometimes stumbles over himself. He describes his trips to the Sahara Desert, to Poland, to India and Tibet in search for the "authentic experience." And all this time Wally Shawn keeps bringing the discussion 'round to their shared mundane everyday reality.

Like "My Dinner With Andre" Soul Gifts was created as a conversation with the world, as something that could show us how human beings have such an invested interest in making their own deep journeys toward the truth.

In its pages we listen closely to all the conversations Gill has given us. And as we pay attention we realize these talks are our only salvation as Gill shares the deepest parts of her life with sculptors, MDs, Spitfire pilots, fishermen, drummers, Reiki masters, artists, scientists, carpenters, Feng Shui consultants, famous surfers, poets, nurses, elected officials, postal workers, musicians, entrepreneurs, tarot readers and Fulbright Scholars.

Through these converstions Gill brings us every bit of humanity.

Not one word is left behind. Not one subject untouched. Even the tired and sick and the socially injured are included. Even subjects like masturbation and why women forever feel fat as men don't really care, or a way to begin to understand the concepts of war and a discussion about the Mi'kmaq Indian Nation's reaction to one of their own being gay is included.

All of these discussions are included without any judgments or reprisals.

"Prejudice is rooted in ignorance and fear." says Barbara Gill. "I was taught early in life that I might not like everybody, but I could love all mankind. We must not forget our connection to others. After all, the ones we shun the most, or those who appear to be the poorest, may be the ones to feed us."

Gill proves it all to us when she just says, "...and life goes on."

Gill should know. Over the last years she has suffered through extreme health issues from years of fibromyalgia. Along with this Barbara was given another hard pill to swallow. A diagnosis of cancer. She was told she had a very large cancerous tumor on her leg called Lyposarcoma. She was told to count her days carefully.

At that point Gill realized her real life's work had just begun. Even though she had spent an entire life helping others heal as a registered psychiatric and palliative nurse. It was time. She must heal herself. She must conquer. Yes, sometimes disease forces us to meet new faces, find new roads and open new windows.

This is the house of healing that Barbara Gill built.

Soul Gifts is about learning to take risks. I'm not talking about taking easy risks. I'm talking about the life risks all of us are afraid to take. And yes if we weren't afraid it wouldn't be a risk. As we learn to accept our limits and celebrate each tiny accomplishment day by day Soul Gifts offers us a map for a better life. Even when it might not always be so good we learn that it really doesn't matter after all. It's really about the roads we take and the roads that take us there.

I must offer you some personal advice in reading Gill's book though.

Don't expect to read Soul Gifts in one sitting. Barbara Gill has created her book layer upon layer. Soul Gifts is made to be read and re-read again and read again as the days, weeks, months, years pass by. Skip around in the pages if you like. Read it backwards if that's more comfortable. All the stories are equally important. It's more than just a self-help book. It's a world-help book.

No fooling.

It's not too often we come across someone who is this honest. "For as long as I recall, I have been acutely aware of the pain of others," says Gill.

Barbara Gill's raw and real honesty pulls the truth out of everyone she meets. She cuts right to the chase. As she shares her stories she shares with us, "Twenty years ago I needed something more tangible to live by. As I struggled to manage my life better, I developed the following philosophy:

When E.E. Cummings said, "I am a man. I am an artist. I am a failure." it seems Barbara Gill was the only one there to record it. Or perhaps make sense of it. Behind every exceptional person is someone who often feels alone and without talent or success.

Gill expertly weaves her "soul gift" stories together in an unforgettable collage of feelings, secrets and memories. "Mankind is in conflict," says Gill. "With self. With one another. The World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020 depression will outpace every other illness but heart disease within the developed world. ...Small wonder. We do not have our priorities straight."

In another of Gill's poems from the pages of her debut book she says,

In just a few more short words Barbara Gill sums up the feeling of her new book better than anyone else when she says, "Soul Gifts: The World's Self-Help Book is about finding our peace."

Lys Anzia, is assistant book reviews editor for Moondance magazine and is currently writing news articles through affiliations with WUNRN - Women's UN Report Network. Three of her news articles about women have recently been placed in the archive of the library at the United Nations through UN-INSTRAW. As an American historical playwright, Lys has recently received an honorarium for theatre from AAUW - American Assoc. of University Women. She is also currently a radio producer for international syndicate WINGS - Women's International News Gathering Service out of Vancouver, BC, Canada.