The Question My First Book Left Me With

When I began writing A Happy Medium – Awakening Through Life’s Challenges, I thought I was writing about my past.

I wanted to share the experiences that had shaped my life, the challenges I had faced, and the lessons I had learned along the way. What I didn’t expect was that finishing the book would leave me with an even bigger question. Over the past few weeks, since the book was published, I’ve had the privilege of receiving messages from readers, speaking with people about the book, and reflecting on the journey that brought it into the world.

During that process I realised something. Writing the book wasn’t the end of my journey. It was the beginning of another one.

A Book That Should Never Have Been Possible

For much of my life, I never believed I would become an author. Living with dyslexia meant writing often felt difficult. My ideas have always come naturally through conversation, reflection, coaching and connecting with people, but turning those thoughts into a structured manuscript felt like climbing a mountain. Then something unexpected happened. I embraced Artificial Intelligence. Not as a replacement for my own thinking. Not as something to fear.

But as a tool. AI helped me organise years of ideas, improve my writing, and express thoughts that had often remained locked inside my mind. The story remained completely mine. The experiences remained mine. The emotions remained mine.

AI simply helped me communicate them more clearly.

I’m also deeply grateful to Noble Legacy Publishing, whose guidance, editing and belief in the project transformed my manuscript into the finished book readers now hold in their hands. That experience challenged many of my assumptions about technology.

The Question I Can’t Stop Asking

Since the book was published, one question has stayed with me.

As Artificial Intelligence becomes more intelligent, what qualities will always make us uniquely human?

The more I think about it, the more I realise that technology itself is neither good nor bad. Like any tool, it depends entirely on the wisdom of the people using it. A hammer can build a home. Or destroy one.

The same is true of AI. It has enormous potential to improve education, healthcare, creativity, communication and the way we solve problems. But it also asks something of us. It asks us to become wiser.

Beyond Artificial Intelligence

This is where a new idea has begun to grow in my mind.

I’m calling it SI – Spiritual Intelligence.

When I use the word “spiritual,” I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about the qualities that help us live meaningful lives. Wisdom. Compassion. Purpose. Discernment. Integrity. Kindness. Curiosity.

Love.

These are the qualities that shape how we use every form of intelligence. Artificial Intelligence may become incredibly powerful. But it cannot decide what kind of human being we choose to become. That decision will always belong to us.

Perhaps This Is the Next Conversation

My first book explored where I have been. The next stage of my writing may explore where we are all going together. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. In fact, I suspect this journey will raise far more questions than it answers. And perhaps that’s exactly how it should be. Because I believe the future won’t simply be shaped by better technology.

It will be shaped by better people. People who are willing to think deeply. Listen carefully. Learn continuously.

And use every tool available—not to replace humanity, but to help humanity flourish.

An Invitation

This isn’t the announcement of my next book. It’s the beginning of a conversation. Over the coming months I’ll be exploring these ideas here on my blog, listening to different perspectives, and allowing this concept of Spiritual Intelligence to grow naturally.

If you’ve read A Happy Medium – Awakening Through Life’s Challenges, thank you for being part of that journey.

If you haven’t yet read it, I hope you will. It explains the life experiences that have shaped the questions I’m now asking.

Because perhaps…

My first book tells the story of my life. The next book may become a conversation about all of ours. I’d love you to join me on that journey.

Derek McGillivray

“Artificial Intelligence may expand what we can do. Spiritual Intelligence will help us decide what we should do.”

Get the book here https://derekmcgillivrayauthor.com/