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I believe that love is the antidote to most of our current problems. Our world really needs more people to lead with sincere curiosity, compassion, and open mindedness. We must really value relationships of all kinds – those with ourselves, others, and the natural world – if we wish to reduce unnecessary sickness and suffering. For me, the basis of love and of healthy relationships are grounded in genuine acceptance, respect, integrity, and care.

At the same time, we live in a truly absurd, rapidly changing, and thus undeniably disorienting world. We are also only here for a very short time (YOLO!?). For these reasons, it is absolutely vital that we follow our bliss and embrace our authentic selves, as well as be sure to regularly find the humor in all of the chaos and crazy. This requires that, at all costs, we pursue our passions and have a hell of a lot of fun along the way…more play, less work!

Kind of, but not really…it’s always changing! My philosophy is quite pragmatic and really all about never remaining static or committed to a specific philosophy. If I were pressed to identify a philosophical approach it would be to take all the insights, lessons, and impressions that deeply resonate with oneself and then weave them into an always blossoming and continuously unfolding story. Said differently, do whatever the hell works for you and forget the rest! (as long as you don’t intentionally hurt others along the way).

I like to think of my work as being far more empowering, far more liberating, and thus far less limiting that most. This is because I am passionate about utilizing alternative, critical, and expansive approaches. I have little patience for dominant discourses or those that are wed to limiting, disempowering models and approaches. I am not afraid to think or be different. At all.

My life and survival depended on me extricating myself from narrow minded, unimaginative, archaic approaches. The cookie-cutter, conventional solutions kept me sick. I’ve learned that nearly anything and everything may be a viable solution for one or many. Thus, we must expand the realm of possibility through true individualization, limitless imagination, and unbounded creativity. This means that at times my work may be radical to some, which is quite the compliment! As Shell Silverstein so brilliantly advised:

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me…anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

That’s a difficult one. Essentially, my work is all grounded in lived experience and founded upon the importance of experiential learning. I write, teach, coach, and/or speak about only those things that I have lived through. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Make your own bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all of your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” So, in that spirit, the essence of my work is that it serves as “highlight reel” from my life, as well as the lives of all those I’ve encountered. My work contains all the most powerful and poignant wisdom garnered from living through extreme amounts of pain, trauma, and struggle.