Anyone without a soul friend

is like a body without a head.

Brigid of Kildare

I am a descendant of artists, chaplains, cowboys, educators, horse thieves, midwives, ministers, poets, sheriffs, soldiers, Scottish Highland clan chiefs and Lowland Scottish knights. My ancestry goes back predominantly to Scotland, Scandinavia, and northern England, with distant ancestors from Cornwall, Ireland, Orkney, and Wales.

A lifetime devotee of Nature-connection, and a longtime practitioner of different forms of meditation, I'm a passionate explorer of the Deep Self (the Creative Self, the Ecological Self, the Numinous Self). Under various pen names, I am a published author and an award-winning poet. Living in the Appalachian Piedmont of north-central Georgia, I am a frequently kilted hillwalker, an apprentice of the seasonal cycles through gardening, and the writings of various Wayfaring poets are always in my vest pocket.

I studied for a decade with Darion Gracen (1949-2007), another American-Scot, and a well-seasoned Wayfarer, teacher, counselor, hillwalker, wilderness guide, and mentor. Her unique approach to spirituality and holding space for other people's process of illumination and individuation continues to shape my own work today.

I earned a Master of Arts in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in the mid-90s with a focus in Jungian Psychology. My Masters thesis was entitled: "The Healing Power of the Image." Additionally, I pursued post-graduate studies in Dreambody work, spiritual direction, and spiritually-integrated psychotherapy (SIP), a year-long course of study developed by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).