Anyone without a soul friend

is like a body without a head.

Brigid of Kildare

My late teacher used say that a good spiritual companion is not someone who solves our problems for us, but rather is a fellow traveler who goes 'part of the way' on the path with us, who holds up a lantern (and sometimes a mirror) that enables us to look at things in a different light. Everything I have ever chosen to study (creative, educational, psychological, spiritual), and every experience I have ever had, contributes to my role as a Lantern Carrier in the Way of Soulfaring.

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I have been a lifetime devotee of Nature-connection and a longtime practitioner of different forms of contemplative practice (meditation), most especially Taoist and Soto Zen. I'm a passionate explorer of what C.G. Jung termed the "numinous," the daimon (muse), and the shaping influence of our Deeper Self as expressed through the Creative Self and the Ecological Self.

While I tend to avoid labels, per se, I consider myself a Wayfarer (a person whose spiritual life is oriented to the Dao of Nature and whose Path, or Way, is characterized by contemplative practice, connection to Nature, and creative expression through the vehicle of poetry).

I'm proud to call the Appalachian Piedmont of north-central Georgia my home. I am a 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), 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 life, my Path, and 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).

I am a descendant of artists, chaplains, cowboys, doctors, educators, midwives, ministers, poets, sheriffs, soldiers and Scottish knights. My ancestry goes back predominantly to Scotland and northwest England, with other ancestral lines hailing from Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Orkney, Scandinavia (Denmark and Norway), and Wales.