About Me

I dedicated my young adult years to trying to save China’s wild rivers from a proliferation of hydropower dams.  I ended up on the roller coaster of a lifetime.  At times I worried about my physical security and safety, at other times felt buoyed by a process of nation building that I was very much invited to participate in. The process challenged my beliefs, my identity, and even my mental health.

I discovered that by simply bringing policy makers on multi-day wilderness rafting trips, subject to the whims of the weather and river flows and the discomfort of camping and being in a new environment, that people experienced a deeper and more authentic connection with themselves far beyond anything I could pretend to “teach” them. 

Furthermore, I noticed that coming from this deep place of connection with themselves, they connected more deeply with the environment and other beings around them.  From this space they automatically experienced a deep sense of aliveness.  As they did so, they made decisions reflecting the economic, social, and environmental complexities of the situation with more ease. 

In other words, the moment I let go of having my agenda of trying to save the rivers, and started holding space for people instead, our common realities naturally aligned in a more connected way, whether internally, relationally with each other, or with the natural world.

It is in this spirit that I have found that coaching, or what I feel might be more aptly referred to as “holding space,” resonates deeply with me.  Is it not possible that each of us, within our own mind and body, also have the capacity to surrender and become at peace with our own unfolding?  And if this were to be the case, might not all of the world’s problems be solved not by taking action, but by holding space for each other to be present in the moment?  My personal experience is that from this place of presence, right action is inevitable.

I spent more than fifteen years away from the United States.  When I returned, I discovered that the nation I proudly call my own had run into its own existential challenges.  It occurs to me that the root of our challenges both internally and how we relate to the world as a country stem from the belief that “liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are unalienable rights.  We presume that as humans we are somehow entitled to these states on a behavioral level, which naturally means that we either expect other people or groups of people or even our physical environment to reflect the reality that we feel entitled to experience.  We look outside of ourselves for these experiences of liberty and happiness, and manipulate each other and our environment tirelessly to gain what we believe is rightfully ours.

It is increasing our capacity as individuals to experience liberty and happiness as internal states separate, from external circumstance or expectation of others behavior, that can rescue our nation, and our planet. For me, this practice then, supporting my fellow humans, is the most important act of nation building and healing possible.  I invite you to join me.