: About Me

I am currently an 'urban pioneer' in Phoenix, AZ. I rehab and find new uses for old buildings in urban areas. See www.kismet1.com. The background for this work comes from a prior career as a commercial real estate appraiser.

I also work as a philosophical counselor, meditatoin teacher, and hypnotherapist, see www.mindfulmedicine.com. This career was the eventual response to a midlife crisis which began with a divorce and ended in a masters degree in Classical East-West Philosophy. I'm also adjunct faculty to Prescott College (small private school in Arizona). I advise students working on their masters degrees in the humanities.

The other main bliss station in my life is performing and recording music. This was a sort of alter-ego career that took over my being three or four nights a week for twenty years. As a R&B guitarist and singer, I played venues ranging from the college frat circuit and Gulf Coast nightclubs of the Deep South back in the 1970's, to main stages in the Middle East, Far East, Europe, and Australia in the 1980's & 1990's. I'm now back in the game creating soundtracks for film and TV. See www.mycrawdaddy.com.

I was also lucky enough to travel extensively when I was working in the heavy construction industry in the 1970's and 80's, based in Saudi Arabia. Over a period of six years I managed to explore over 20 countries on six continents.

Blah blah blah

Religion & Spirituality > Speculations & Criticisms What is the function of religion

1 of 6

At the inaugural conference of Arizona State University's Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, I listened to an erudite panel of speakers discuss today's complex issues of religious conflict. I found myself asking why we humans created religion in the first place? I began reviewing in my mind Joseph Campbell's "Four Functions" that a properly working myth or religion serves (Campbell always interchanged the terms): MYSTICAL: To awaken and maintain within the individual a sense of deep awe and wonder and gratitude for the universe as it is, thereby protecting the tender psyche fro...

More..

Writing:

• Marketplace Approved Writer
• Helium Charter Member