About
My life passion is connection. I believe that first we have to be connected in a profound way to ourselves before we can connect to others. That's the beginning. But what lights me up most of all now is my connection to other people and facilitating their connections, both to their inner worlds and in relationship to each other.
I've been conscious of the importance of connection all my life. As far back as I remember, I have had this awareness. It, in part, comes from my family.
Growing up I saw a lot of divorce and with this came differences. My father was Jewish, my mother Unitarian. From the beginning it was instilled in me to respect and honor differences. Each mentor in my childhood was able to teach me.
My mother is a mediator and psychological evaluator; she taught me the importance of self discovery. My father and his father instilled in me the value of authentic self expression and the importance of being in community with people who valued that. My step father fueled my interest in both business and innovation, mentoring me through his example. From him, I learned early that the greatest asset of any business is the heart and creativity of the people working in it.
When it came time to decide about a course of education, I was interested in making this idea of connection manifest in my life. A major in Psychology was a foundation. I added a Doctor of Oriental Medicine because I realized that the body is an internal system of connection that works powerfully in our lives. Then I received a Professional Coach Certification so that I could communicate all of this to others. Three years of chaplaincy training helped to shape the spirituality that has always been such an internal force.
Connection is the key. When I met and then married my wife, Jeri, I realized that I had found my match. Each of us is a strong personality and we both believe that the bridges that we create with each other makes each of us more whole. She also believes in strong ties to family and community and our daughter, Sierra, teaches us more about this every day. We believe that loving support and authentic self expression is vital to all of our lives.
One of my first work experiences set the course. I worked in a hospital, setting up a program to implement a team approach to rehabilitative medicine using both western and eastern medical approaches. It was a challenge but it felt like I was on the right track. I realized, though, that it was not so much the situation that felt so right to me, but it was the process of helping people understand each other and work together supportively that felt true. From there, it was a short step to realizing that I wanted to continue working in this way with small groups, helping people to create supportive communities so that each had the platform and freedom to find his or her own voice. And in 2004 I launched the Working Awareness Network to help people authentically connect to themselves and be in a supportive community of honor and respect.