"A Brief History of Paul"....

I was born in Ashford, England in April of 1953. My mother told me I was conceived to the sound of "Bolero" and it appears that this piece of music does in some ways mirror my life's journey - at least from the perspective of it's slowly "evolving" nature up through it's triumphant climax....

After traveling around the globe with my mother, a newly born sister, and my first step father, we settled in Mesa, Arizona where my first "feeling-memories"and experiences seemed to coalesce into a strange dream.....of Mormonism, school, the Southwest desert environment, which of course in the 50's included "Howdy Doody", desert animals, insects, cowboys, Indians, and guns....

My adolescent years were essentially contained and influenced by quite literally everything the 60's could deliver.... But drugs, sex, and rock & roll were soon eclipsed by my desire to "know the truth" and "find the answer"; and a number of significant and profound experiences with psychedelics was to provide a lifetime of the requisite developmental "processing" which included the study and practice of a wide array of mystical/religious traditions....

Due to my immaturity (I was 17) and inability to sustain the insights I received, I became immersed in the dilemma of the interpretation of the experiences I had enjoyed and ultimately suffered, but when another experiential dimension opened up to me without the use of any "drugs" I became involved in the Christian Ministry, of the "Pentecostal" variety.

For 5 years I labored in the "fields of the Lord".... ironically enough, immediately after obtaining my ministerial certificate, "it was finished", since I could no longer tolerate the infantile exclusivity that dominated this religious excursion and I abandoned the ministry, taking up my search once again, which led me into the 'orange' domain, of both science and politics.

By the mid 80's I was once again craving some sort of "connection" and spiritual understanding and one day in 1983, while I was perusing books in the philosophical section of the Mesa Public Library I came across a book entitled "Scientific Proof of God Will Soon Be Announced by The White House" written by one "Da Free John" and the book also had an endorsement on the back cover by Ken Wilber.... The "recognition" of the power of some of these essays had a profoundly deep influence on me - I had found another soul who "understood", and what was soon to follow was 4 years of "participation" in the community of his "devotees" with this participation ending in 1988....

From that year until the present, an "integrative" process of development has continued; but such a terse and "matter of fact" description does not do justice to the emotional experiential content that such a process involves! Of course, in this short biography, I have not revealed the essence of my unfoldment.... all the very personal and intimate relationships my life has included, which has ultimately revealed and embodied "the painful loving of all that is"....

For those interested.... I am presently working on a book that will "flesh-out" the living details of this evidently developmental process which, hopefully, will aid many in their own acknowledgement of the "MYSTERY".

During this entire process, from 1976 to the present I developed a professioal career in engineering and have "made my way" in this world by working for a number of consulting engineering firms - I am presently a Branch/Division Manager for a consulting engineer, providing Geotechnical, Environmental, Construction Materials Testing, and Structural Inspection services throughout the state of Arizona.