Who I Am
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My Journey
Born a Mid-Westerner, I was raised in the Southern United States. I earned a degree in voice and then went on to complete a Master of Divinity Degree with specialties in Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Formation. I was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1978. I then earned a Master in Religion Degree and pursued graduate studies in the fields of Ethics and Women's History.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, I was employed in the areas of child welfare, domestic violence and staff development while continuing to hold various part-time ministry positions. I was also a training consultant throughout New York State for the Department of Children and Families and several other agencies. I retuned to my home state of Florida and then returned to full-time ministry in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.
I am now "blissfully retired" and while I retain my ordination status as retired clergy, I am no longer active in professional work in churches except as an officiant at ceremonies and celebrations.
I am a Level Three Reiki practitioner, a certified Animal Reiki practitioner, and a Follower of the Shamanic Ways. I am an energy healer and an artist, poet, writer, and public speaker. I live in Central Florida with little Finian, my best friend, Emotional Support Animal, and constant companion dog. I am a proud mother of one son and daughter-in-law, and a happy grandmother of two delightful grandchildren.
My story includes being in recovery from prescription drug abuse and alcoholism for over 34 years. I am also a survivor of a lifetime of mental illness and has explored the relationship between mental illness and spirituality for decades. I recently published my first book (a memoir): The Journey of a Wounded Healer: the Mystical Web of Mental Illness and Spirituality. (See more about that book here.)
My current work fulfills my calling as a Guide through "Roots and Branches" a process which assists others in finding ways to express the beauty of their journey by integrating spirituality, life events, and various emotional and psychological pathways--all integral to authentic storytelling of one's own life.
About my own spiritual practices: For a very long time I labored under the notion that I had to be "spiritual" in all the ways that others described their spirituality. Later in life, I came to a place that has been increasingly important to my spiritual growth and expanding journey. I began to simplify my own journey, focusing on Celtic Shamanism (because that is where my calling manifested as my spiritual life matured) and I determined to listen to and appreciate the pathways of others rather than demand that I try to appropriate them as my own. I found that I could be in complete harmony with those who practiced in completely different ways, while I was centered on what was increasingly meaningful to me. So my practices, while simple, are deeply earth and nature-based, shamanic in focus, and profoundly authentic in my own spiritual story. One last clarification--many spiritual healers and leaders speak of receiving "downloads" by which they mean revelation or insight imparted to them by Source. I speak of "uploads" because my revelations and insights come from deep within Mother Earth. My Spirit Guides and Power Animal connect me to Source that is both within myself and in the Earth. I also receive "downloads" but only after I have mined all that I have received from the Heart of Mother Earth. There is no dichotomy. We are all ONE.