All my life, I’ve loved the idea of liberation and looking deeply into the question:

What does it really mean to be free?

Let me be clear: I’m not a coach. I’m not a therapist. And if you could see my desk with piles of book and papers cascading everywhere, you’d know I’m not very organized nor a minimalist.

Isn’t that refreshing?

What I am is a good friend. In fact, my dharma name (a name given to people who receive Buddhist vows) is Zenyu, which means just that, “good friend.”

I love to write and to support people in their own journeys toward liberation—that’s the genesis of this website. I’m in this project with you, and consider myself a work-in-progress, always aspiring toward freedom.

While Buddhism is the path that I’m dedicated to and you’ll find a dharma perspective informing my writing, the Liberated Life Project reaches out heartily in many directions. No matter who you are or what your spiritual orientation, I hope you’ll feel at home here.

If you decide you’d like to be part of all this and receive LLP posts in your email box, just sign up here. As a way of saying thanks for your support, I’ll send you 31 Quotes for Living a Liberated Life, an inspiring short e-book.

Interviews

I love to interview people and then bring their stories out into the world. In fact that is probably one of my super-powers.

But occasionally I’m on the other side of the microphone. I’ve really enjoyed being interviewed by these folks:

• Shelly Immel of The Big Life Project did a fun video interview with me in April 2012, centered on the idea of “liberation-based livelihood.”
• Kaspa and Fiona of Writing Our Way Home interviewed me on the topic of creativity on their site in July 2011.

Other Places You Can Find My Writing

• Always Well Within: The Power of Living From Your Vows
• Elephant Journal: How to Be Bigger Than Your Suffering
• I contributed an essay to the ebook Love, Care, Donate in support of those affected by the tornadoes that hit Joplin, MO, in May 2011.
• I also contributed an essay to Pearls of Peace, an e-book compiled by Joy Holland to celebrate International Peace Day, September 2012.

And… a few other things you might enjoy knowing about me:

• I’ve been practicing Buddhism since 1993 and am an ordained Buddhist chaplain.

• I live in a magical casita in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

• I paid off $32,000 of credit card debt—something I worked on for eight years. I called this my “debt liberation quest” and consider it one of my first successful liberation projects.

• In 2008, I started my own business  — Five Directions Coaching and Consulting

• Among the things I’ve done for work: music therapist, mental health counselor, administrative assistant, bookseller, writer, editor, anthropologist, nonprofit executive director. I’ve distilled the lessons I learned during many years of searching for right livelihood into an online course that lots of folks have raved about: “Fall in Love With Your Work.”

• I love to travel—I’ve circumambulated Mt. Kailash, a sacred mountain in Tibet, traveled to India and Thailand, and spent five weeks in Bali (way, way before Eat, Pray, Love). And that’s just a little bit of my travel resume. I am a big believer in the transformative power of travel.

• And finally, I am deeply spiritual and eminently pragmatic. The Liberated Life Project reflects both those qualities.