Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? —Mary Oliver

Welcome!

I often think about this question posed by the marvelous Mary Oliver. My own answer to this question has been to find my way back to myself and to spread as much goodness as I can while I do so.

I was born into a family, culture, and religious tradition where I simply don’t make sense. Nature feels truer to me than religion. I am gay. I prefer solitude and contemplation. I am fascinated by every religious and spiritual tradition I’ve encountered and they’ve all seemed far more similar than different to me. When I was very young, I told my mom that when I grew up I wanted to go with people to the ocean so they could talk about their problems and feel better. She gently told me that people don’t talk to strangers about their feelings, they talk to their family or their church.

It’s important to note, my mom was a devoted and gifted mom who loved me very much. I also grew up with a very loving extended family. And a loving neighborhood. The real issue was that the people around me only loved the parts of me that thrived in and served the purposes of our culture well; my compassion, my sunny outlook, my joyful service. So, I learned to over-build those muscles. I internalized the acceptable scripts. And the perfectly beautiful parts of myself that were labeled sinful or selfish were exiled into a forest of shame at the perimeters of my heart. There they would weep and grasp painfully when I saw them reflected in the outside world. I doubled and tripled down on suppressing who I am for years until my heart burst when I was in my late 20s. Since then, I have been finding my way back to myself and spreading as much goodness as I can while I do so. This journey has often been a messy, terrifying disaster but well worth it to me. Today, my life looks more like who I am than it ever has and I am at home with myself once more.

I have indeed learned how to talk to people about their problems and help them feel better, and I believe the “by the ocean” part will happen in due time. I began training as a Life Coach in 2010. Over the years, I have completed several coaching programs and certifications while refining my own coaching style.

In 2019, I found my coaching home while completing the Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach Training. I became a Certified Martha Beck Wayfinder Coach in February 2021. I then completed Wayfinder Master Coach Training and became a Certified Martha Beck Wayfinder Master Coach in January 2022.

One of my own “wildly audacious dreams” was to become an instructor for Wayfinder Life Coach Training, which came true in 2022 when I was hired to do just that. I absolutely love it! Teaching the Wayfinder Coaching tools, frameworks, and concepts is more amazing and rewarding than I even imagined it would be.

In 2023, a deep wish to incorporate horses into my coaching came true when I began training with The Center for Equus Coaching. Equus coaching is truly my happy place! I’m completing my training this year and working toward certification.

After so many years on my own journey and over a decade of coaching, here’s what I know to be true; you have your own wisdom and your own answers for your life within you. Sometimes you have to navigate a shame forest at the perimeter of you heart to find them, but they are there waiting to bring the insight and the healing you need to be the whole, unique, glorious light you were born to be.

As a coach, teacher, and writer, I am passionate about serving others on their own quests for finding a personal version of a beautiful and meaningful life. I invite you to explore my website to find out more about me and my coaching and to see if I’d be a good fit to coach you. I wish you peace, joy, truth, and love on your journey through your “one wild and precious life.”