Marie and I started our design business in the late nineties. We have been fortunate to have an eclectic range of clients who challenged all of our abilities to keep growing, and an exceptional support team of builders, artists, and craftspeople. Special thanks to Gaby, Judy, and Irvin.
ARC Design
Living Guild
Ray Lucchesi and I founded Living Guild nearly 10 years ago. Living Guild supports communities to advance well-being and a common future.
Our projects have included: The Russian River Confluence, a multi-agency collaborative effort that explored our relationship with the watershed we live in, and working with Regenerating Paradise as a heartfelt response to the most destructive fire in California's history, focusing on facilitating the social, cultural, and collaborative aspects of the rebuild process.
Regenesis Group
In 2016, I completed a course in regenerative thinking in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Regenerative Practitioner Series is a five-month, in-depth course held over Zoom. The course includes ten two-hour dialogue sessions structured around a curriculum of reading material and practice exercises and culminates in a three-day intensive, in-person workshop.
The series challenged many concepts and frameworks I was attached to: how we think, how we work, and who we are, offering new frameworks and processes to work with.
Vipassana
In my mid-twenties, I was introduced to Vipassana Meditation through 10-day silent retreats, which have since been a mainstay in my life. The main teacher was Mr. S.N. Goenka from India, who learned under the tuition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin in Burma. The inward exploration led me to meditation courses around the world, including a special course in Bodh Gaya, India, and courses at the U Ba Khin Center in Burma.
I am grateful to have a deep network of Vipassana friends whom I have met on the way, and privileged to have met the Venerable Thai Buddhist Abbot, Ajahn Chah, and many of the monks in his tradition, including the Venerable Ajahn Sumadho.
In the early days of my Vipassana practice, I lived with a group of fellow meditators at Oak Tree House in Amberley, West Sussex, England. At Oak Tree House, we organized and served on courses for teachers, including those led by Mother Sayama and John Coleman.