About Me

I’m the author of Tea & Cookies: How I Welcome My Jabberwock. In one-on-one sessions and small groups, I work with others to help them learn and practice the Clear Path Process, the active, creative meditation method described in Part I of my book.

I use the Clear Path Process to interact with “parts” of myself that have come to awareness via thoughts, odd or uncomfortable physical sensations, odd or not-preferred behavior, or dreams. I interact with that aspect of myself as if it is a separate entity, though I know it is not. In the meditation, I see, listen to, and respond to that aspect of myself. Over the years, I’ve found that I don’t always have to understand—as in analyze—that part to begin to work with it as a friend rather than as a problem to be avoided, shunned, or cursed. (Sometimes I do gain understanding about whatever that aspect represents in me.)

I’ve used this method since the mid-’90s, successfully addressing things such as procrastination, anger, irritation, fear, confusion, physical pain, loss of sleep, and relationship issues, with the result that, in general, I experience a seriously fast shift in how I feel, act, and think. By facing difficulties and working with instead of against them, I have altered my life in valuable ways.

The “Not Talkable Aboutable” Story

One of my mentors, Gary De Rodriguez, urged me to tell this: Since the mid-‘90s, I’ve practiced and quietly shared this process and its variants as it developed. In 2015, I went public with it via public speaking and by publishing my book.

Why wait so long? For about the first fifteen years, my use of this creative process was mostly me experimenting in myself with the methods. My then-husband used the creative meditation, too, and we talked with each other about our inner experiences and how we altered the method—in our personal use—over years.

When I talked with others about it, it often resulted in awkward conversation. It became, for me, a “not talkable aboutable” subject. I think part of that was due to such methods being more on the fringe ten-to-twenty years ago than they are now, and part was due to my self-consciousness in talking about this uncommon method. Now I’ve had a lot of years of experimentation with and evolution of this process, and I’m eager to share and teach it.

I clearly recall one day about two years ago when it became more painful to hide who I am than to talk about it; that motivated me to begin doing public speaking about the process and to write my book. My attitude shift and, I think, a cultural and social shift have made this much easier.

Qualification and Training

The Clear Path Process is one I put together, but in part it evolved and morphed out of a method I learned in the mid-‘90s: The Inner Guide Meditation (IGM). In the mid-‘90s, I attended two IGM Initiators’ Training Course Intensives, each lasting two weeks. I learned, among other things, ways to greet, hear, and interact with once-subconscious aspects of myself. After those intensives, I was certified to help others start using IGM. (As far as I can tell, IGM intensives are no longer taught.)

However, I don’t teach IGM—I teach the method that’s resulted from:

  • My personal-change work, which started in 1986, via More To Life.org, which supports increased self-awareness through introspective techniques and outward change
  • Techniques and ways of thinking I learned in More To Life courses
  • Using IGM as I originally learned it, then as my use of it changed over years
  • Things I’ve learned from doing intercessory meditation since 1999 (Part II of my book covers that)
  • Input from others, including those who use this or similar methods

I’ve tested this method on myself for decades now.

The upshot: No one can qualify me to teach a process that I’ve developed; however, because IGM is part of the basis for it, I’m grateful I gained certification in IGM.

Please note the disclaimer at the bottom of the page.