Let's Pretend: A Tale of Mind, Imagination, and Healing

by Christian Hageseth III

Synopsis
Dr. Peter Andresen is a broken man. Once a highly-respected psychiatrist, he lives alone, suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder that he steadfastly denies. Unable to practice medicine, he survives on modest VA benefits. Ten years earlier, his wife died in a freak bicycle accident. Soon thereafter, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He has managed his Parkinson’s for nine years without taking medication.
As the story begins, Peter walks alone on a deserted beach. He doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing until he encounters a beautiful young woman named Holly Be. She knows his story and it is her assigned mission to restore meaning to his life. But she fails to maintain the emotional distance required to prevent them from falling in love.
Holly lives in the realm of imaginary reality; a part of the Infinite Mind in which material realities are optional. What becomes real is whatever Peter and Holly can imagine. Their experiences range from existentially profound encounters to lighthearted play. Peter believes his mission is to understand the BodyMind and how managing it can arrest Parkinson’s disease. His PTSD is a different story. It is buried so deeply; he lives as if the trauma never took place. Terrifying memories must become conscious and re-experienced in florid detail if he will ever be free.
By the end of his stay, his brain’s disorders are resolved; but his safe return is not guaranteed—he may die or become psychotic during reentry. Even if he returns safely, he will continue to be alone if Holly cannot come with him
Here is the deeper
The synopsis summarizes the story, but it does not convey the soul of the tale. The Infinite Mind and the Big Bang came into being like conjoint twins the instant the Universe came into being. The Infinite Mind is conscious and, unlike matter, has no limits such as the speed of light. Humankind errs when encountering The Infinite Mind by reducing it to a god of their own description. The energy and wisdom of the Infinite Mind do not respond to human pleadings whatever the form. But humanity interacts with the Infinite Mind all the time. Holly guides Peter to engaging and manifesting the Infinite Mind. Their IMAGINATION!

188 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2019

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's Pretend by Christian Hageseth is a very different, enjoyable fiction book and tells a story that can make a difference in how we see our world, our lives and the people in it. The premise of the man, Peter, having lost much in many life areas, could be a downer, but this book is the sort that had me wanting to scream in triumph with every win for him. We need books like this. Read it, you will understand what I mean.

Peter is in a dream state or altered reality, where he is challenged to understand his past and how the actions of others beyond his control and his reactions to it all, affected him, from child to adult. When I was a kid, I thought all families were normal and only mine was messed up. Only later did I learn that many families had tough times, just as I learned that individuals often had lives that were harder than they let on. I didn't know how much that things in our lives can shape us. The book is not just about Peter, his guides and virtual experiences, but rather is imaginative, enjoyable and made me laugh at times, while letting me think more deeply about myself and my life.

The story starts on a beach, where he meets a beautiful woman, Holly, who knows seemingly everything about Peter. She tells him that he is in this altered reality to learn and it seems that if he learns well, that he can return to his dreadful, down and out life with a gift to help others to heal. Will he be willing to selflessly take on the struggles for little personal reward?

Peter has lost just about everything, has Parkinson's, very little financial resources and has lost many people dear to him. Prodded by Holly, he remembers fun again, humor and by recalling some of his pivotal life moments, he faces what happened and gets a different view of it all. Flying on owls, becoming a hawk, a raven and even a dolphin, Peter grows in depth. Without a promise of better things, he struggles to face his ultimate nightmares to return to regular reality.

At first, I thought the short sentences in his writing style were simple, but rapidly as the story evolved, I saw that the style was perfectly suited to tell Peter's story and to engage the reader into turning the next page, and the next page. I do want more. I want to know what comes next for Peter. I am rating it highly because it was an enjoyable read, very different from the normal crime or thriller type book, written well, made me think and also because I want to read more books like this. I'm not big on 5 stars, but something good needs recognition.

[S. Jeyran Main · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s pretend is a paranormal fiction story. It is about a sixty-three-year-old man who has Parkinson’s disease. Peter is not only dealing with this situation, but he is also bankrupt, lonely, and struggling to survive with all the loss in his life.


As he meets Holly, things change drastically. The touch of his woman to his heart and soul creates an entirely different version of this man, and that is when the story takes a different turn.



The story discusses Parkinson’s disease very well. Peter lives with his issues without taking any medication. PTSD is also another matter which brings a unique drive in the storyline. Holly knows about Peter’s problems, and she takes over, making him believe that her training can change him.



The literature and wording were written in such a way that the reader could easily self-reflect with the story. I enjoyed the book because of this factor and admired the thought that had gone into expressing the overwhelming emotions Peter was going through.



I recommend this book to people who like to read paranormal fiction and urban style stories.

[Brent Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very rarely does a fiction book check all of the boxes for five stars, but Let's Pretend by Christian Hageseth does. Initially, I thought it was going to be a fun read, exploring Peter's life and difficulties in an imaginary reality, but instead parts of the book touched me in unexpected ways, resulting in the story of Peter's experiences positively affecting my own life.

The beginning did intrigue me, with the protagonist awakening on a lovely beach, alone and unaware of how he got there. Right away, he finds a bottle with a message in it and suddenly a genie, Holly, appears. I thought here we go with a genie story, but no, instead the story takes off into Peter's imaginary reality for a very fun and enlightening ride.

Peter, in real life, has Parkinson's, which he manages without medication. In nearly every way, his life is broken and PTSD brings him down further. His strong will and take on life experiences are the sparks that give him the position to be chosen in this imaginary place to learn deeper meanings of his own life and to perhaps help others when he awakens. He travels throughout the imaginary reality land, meets visionary people from history, faces his travails from the past and learns of deeper knowledge within him, the gifts of his experiences. Holly the genie/angel guide helps him acknowledge what he learned and they form a deep connection.

While my own life has been quite different from Peters' life, I started thinking of my past, what events happened that perhaps touched me in a negative manner, yet unknown to my conscious mind. After reading different chapters, I took long walks or spent quiet time thinking how events in my life maybe affected my own health. The outcome was that yes, I did have some thorny areas. Don't we all? And shining the light on those areas has already started making small changes in my own life. The world, universe is greater than I thought before reading Let's Pretend.

The book is well written with solid characterization, smooth pacing and descriptive settings. The pages turn easily as the events flow to reveal more about Peter and his world. I recommend this book to anyone who reads, who has felt hard times and wants to feel better. It is a book to buy for yourself and also for anyone you care about.

[Salvadore Astin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter's story is for any of us going through hard times, from money or relationship problems, to mental or physical health challenges. When we need light, hope and the promise that things can get better, this story is here to show the way, to help in these adversarial times.

Awakening in an imaginary reality on a beach and remembering nothing about how he got there, Peter meets his first guide of several in the guise of a genie in a bottle on the sandy shore. Holly knows all about Peter, but Peter lacks knowledge of where he is or how he arrived. He thinks that he is safe, that life in this reality is safe and easy, that he can wake up. It isn't.

In his own life, he is a man facing financial ruin, PTSD and Parkinson's, and in reality, Peter has no hope that life could be different. His guides show him wisdom that he learned from his difficulties and how to rise higher to achieve healing within himself. He opens his heart to one guide, Holly, and she too, seems to have deep feelings for Peter.

Flying on large owls, becoming a hawk and a raven and talking with his favorite historical medical people, Peter hopes to shed his earthly limitations, discover how to shatter the darkness holding him prisoner, and awaken strength he never expected. If he can find the golden light of healing, then he can return to reality as a healer, ready to help others free themselves from pain and to share his wisdom with the world.

Traumatic events in his life injured him deeply though, affecting his hope and ability to envision a better life and making it close to impossible to heal and return to his world. With darkness inside from the horrid events, he may not ever pass the anguish to return to reality. Faced with daunting tasks, Peter pushes on, wanting to find hope and wishing the genie guide had given him an easier path to get back home.

With Peter's story we can ride along, learn from our own tragedies, gain wisdom into our purpose in life and discover our own golden light of healing.

[David Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s Pretend: A Tale of Mind, Imagination, and Healing by Christian Hageseth III
Review by David James Miller

Wrapped in fiction, Christian Hageseth’s Let’s Pretend: A Tale of Mind, Imagination, and Healing is woven around a philosophy that, no doubt, has been hard won by the author who is a veteran of the Vietnam war, a retired psychiatrist, and lives today with Parkinson’s disease. It is the essentials of this philosophy that I want to focus on in this review.

Let’s Pretend is a tale of unfinished business, of living with the pain of trauma, both large and small. It is a story of facing this pain and letting it go. It is a work that locates the possibility of such healing within the resources of imagination.

Peter Anderson, the main character in the book, is, in a sense, each of us. Peter is a damaged man. Despite his accomplishments, a darkness arising from the traumas he has suffered, along with his inability to confront them, has grown in him and infected his life. In the book, Peter is guided on a journey to dispel this darkness, to be healed and, in turn, to become a healer himself.

On this journey, it becomes clear that healing is a cooperative, not an individual, endeavor. Peter is guided throughout by others who lead him on his path of healing and, in doing so, teach him how to be a healer. The playfulness, frivolity, and humor in his interactions with these guides, human and otherwise, help teach Peter to let go, to live in the moment, to accept what is.

But healing is not only reaching out to and being reached by others. Peter learns that it involves tapping into to something beyond himself. This “something beyond” is not God in any traditional sense. It is a kind of cosmic creativity that permeates existence. He comes to know this power by the words “Infinite Mind,” but it is something that can only be experienced, not comprehended or encompassed by a name.

As a corollary to this, the idea of incarnate evil is dismissed, the notion itself, refigured. Evil is a human phenomenon arising from the expression and perpetuation of ignorance, dogmatism and intolerance, something that stands in the way of healing. Conversely, Peter learns that the characteristics of the healer include understanding and non-judgment, as well as empathy and compassion, traits embodied by his guides.

Gathering these things together, imagination is a space of safety and critical distance. Healing itself happens first in the imagination. Through imagination, the mind, and so the body is re-trained. It is a place of creation and re-creation. It allows Peter to learn to recall trauma without re-experiencing its pain. It offers him the possibility of living without darkness as a healer himself.

Not only is the story in Let’s Pretend worth reading, it contains a philosophy worth living.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read books like this, but they are not my cup of tea. I believe in God and Jesus Christ, who died to save us all. In this book there is a Big Bang theory and an Infinite Mind. I enjoyed the relationships between Peter and Holly and some of the other characters but the philosophy did not ring true to me. Honestly, it seemed like a child’s book, written for an adult.

[Christian Hageseth III]

It's my book. I won't rate it.