Brian grew up an Army brat, living around the world and in the U.S. until he was 13. His peripatetic childhood included a year in the late 60s attending a segregated school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a hasty exit from east Berlin just prior to the building of the wall, and a passage in Buenos Aires when the recently unexiled Juan Peron threatened to kill every American in Argentina.

He has hung aluminum siding in Fairbanks, Alaska, washed dishes in the Sierras, guided white water rafting trips, bartended, worked as a paralegal, flew planes in the Navy, and spent three years in South America as a Peace Corps volunteer.

His resume also boasts a forty-year career in education as a teacher, school administrator, and now, for the non-profit Daraja Academy which offers a tuition-free boarding school education to the poorest young women in Kenya.

Brian has been a seeker throughout his life, and as he passed through middle age, the seeking turned inward, away from the outward explorations of his youth. This led to a deep study of shamanism, after which he realized he’d been having shamanic experiences his entire life--from potent dreams with animal guides to altered interludes in nature. He is now preparing to enter into another period of shamanic education and practice, ever-curious about where it will take him.

During our talk, Brian talked about how impactful and uncommon it was to feel seen as a young man, his life of service, and the thread of cynicism that’s leading him into deeper inquiry.

Brian’s path into shamanism has been through The Foundation of Shamanic Studies. LINK

He also mentioned a word I’d never heard before. This is a somewhat rare and exciting event for me! If you’re curious, you can find out more about mishigas here: LINK

Brian also mentioned a couple of books in our time together:

The World’s Religions by Huston Smith LINK

Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking by Susan Cain LINK

Video Production by Cyber Citrus Creative.