Richard Dugan’s Choices explores the quiet, pivotal moments that shape the course of our lives — decisions made in an instant that echo far beyond their beginnings. In this conversation, Dugan reflects on the inspiration behind his work, the themes of consequence and personal responsibility that run through it, and the ways in which our everyday choices define who we become. Thoughtful and candid, he offers insight into both his creative process and the deeper questions at the heart of his writing.
The book opens with you asking your wife Amrita whether she wanted to live or die after her cancer diagnosis. That’s an extraordinary thing to say to someone you love. Can you walk us through what gave you the courage to ask that, and what you hoped it would do for her?
To the first part, I wanted to know what she wanted to do. I had no expectations, yet hoped she wanted to ‘live.’ Yet that was up to her. As to part two, I felt it would let her know that whatever choice she made, I would be there with her, to the end, regardless of ‘when’ that was, short term or long term.
Your five steps — Make a Choice, Match Your Words, Match Your Actions, Match Your Questions and Be Your Choice — form the book. Which of those steps do you find most people struggle with, and why do you think that step is the hardest?
Step 1 – because no one wants to make the so-called wrong choice. There are no wrong choices. There is only making a choice that you take responsibility for 100%. There are no victims in making choices. Only owning the choice and the outcome. And if you don’t like the outcome, make another choice.
You’ve been legally blind since birth, and in 1996 you received a lens implant that changed your vision overnight. How did living most of your life with low vision shape the way you think about choices and did gaining vision change any of those ideas?
To be clear, no pun intended, I could see, just not as well as others, 20/20. I also only had good sight in my right eye. My left eye had half the vision of the right. 20/200 right, 20/400 left. As I grew up, going through school, I found I was able to push on through the reading and writing and studying to at least have a ‘C’ average. I also rode my bicycle to and from school and all over the valley. My bicycle was my freedom from the everyday stuff that I didn’t really care about.
At 12 I became a paperboy, delivering the local paper to what became hundreds of customers, selling subscriptions and winning sales awards and trips to Disneyland multiple times.
As I left secondary school, I took 7 months off, and during that time experienced a brief bout of ‘victim hood.’ I chose to attend Phoenix College and, among others, took an English course that I truly enjoyed. During the summer of 1979, I found out about a job at Sun Sounds Radio Reading Service that started me on the road I’ve been on ever since.
One of the first things I became aware of was that my visual acuity was a ‘perceived limitation.’ Based upon all I had done up to that point, I was only limited by what I thought I couldn’t do. And if I wanted to fly, I would have to find the workaround that would have me flying high, like an eagle, to quote John Denver from ‘The Eagle and the Hawk.’
I know this is a long answer to a short question. I learned through this and future experiences that I have the power to direct my life’s path, trusting my inner guidance.
Parts of this book were written in the 1990s during your first marriage, and other parts came after Amrita’s cancer diagnosis in 2001. What was it like to weave those two very different seasons of your life into one book?
What was so fascinating was how my beliefs of yesterday were so similar to my beliefs of today. With only a few slight changes, I am still living the philosophy I have cultivated, and, yes, changed, now as then.
You use the image of everyone standing on a different point of a circle, seeing life only from their own angle. In a world that feels increasingly polarized, how do you get someone to step back from their point and genuinely try to see another one?
I don’t. I can share examples of the illogical premises used to come to the position and share the logical process that leads to a different conclusion. It is up to the individual to ‘choose’ to consider these different points of view. If they ‘choose’ to stay where they are, I can only move on with my life and continue to put out the energetic thoughts that there are as many ways to see the world as there are people on the planet. Each individual is responsible. And I am responsible for me alone. I will share what I know now and ‘hope’ others will consider what I have shared. The beauty of it all is that once I have shared, ‘they’ have to deal with it. Maybe not today or tomorrow or next week or even next year. Once heard, it can’t be unheard.
You describe a “still small voice” throughout the book. For readers who feel disconnected from that voice, or who don’t trust it, what’s your practical advice for learning to hear it and follow it?
I have promoted since September 2019, spending time going within to that quiet, peaceful, calm space during the year of perfect vision, 2020. Then in 2021, it became the decade of perfect vision, the 2020s, to listen to and follow the promptings of that ‘still small voice.’
One can start by stopping, being still and quiet, and just listening. Ask a simple question and then be aware of the body. Where is your awareness drawn to? What is the ‘FIRST’ thought that enters your mind? What is the ‘FIRST’ image that enters your imagination?
How long? Start with 60 seconds, the first few times. Then start expanding the time to 90 seconds and add 30 seconds as it feels comfortable for you.
At some point, communicate internally and make friends with the guiding voice. If you feel comfortable, give a name to the voice. I call mine ‘My Friend.’
And remember, you will never be guided into harm’s way. You will be challenged from time to time. You may be tested as your trust grows. And you will notice, over time, that the process starts to become second nature. And have fun.
You’ve spent over 45 years interviewing authors, spiritualists, visionaries, and innovators on Tell Me Your Story. After all those conversations, what’s the single thread you’ve noticed running through the lives of people who are truly living the choices they’ve made?
That they care about themselves and want to help others to do the same. That we are all connected and here to support and assist each other in remembering who we have always been and becoming the aspect of the divine we were created to be. Bottom line: community!
