Discover and Nurture Your Authentic, Powerful Nature

Here’s where you discover how to be or not to be you – as an authentic, creative, idealistic, responsible and loving being in a free society!  I will assist you through interactive education tailored to your unique life – your dreams, hopes, values and priorities.  Designed to be practical in concrete ways while also being custom-fitted to your needs, my teachings are rooted in sound principles and practices common to all paths of faith in a “Higher Power” who seeks to empower us by:

• Setting us free to enjoy life fully
• Honoring our capacity to make our own good decisions
• Encouraging us to blossom without interference as compassionate, cooperative and creative beings
• Yet coming to our aid when asked for guidance and help and
• Infusing us with peace and love that we may all live in harmony within a multicultural humanity blending the best of East and West and transcending all concepts by which conflicts remain unresolved.
• As a bonus, when we recover our sense of authenticity in relationship to a Higher Power we also recover a heartfelt sense of connection with Nature and humanity and cultivate our inherent capacity to live in harmony with Nature and help to undo the harm that humanity’s loss of balanced, healthy lifestyles has caused.  By Divine Grace, we can not only learn how to “first do no harm” but also learn how to go the extra mile to undo harm already done and help Nature to heal.

There are many terms used to refer to such a “Higher Power” or “Benevolent Energy Source of the Universe.”  The term you or I may use is not so important.  Nor is the precise format through which we express our faith in such a Higher Power.  Our common struggle to keep faith with such a Divine Mystery beyond human comprehension is what matters most.  Faith allows us to step into the Mystery of Life itself, to be aware of, intrigued by and yet at peace with unanswered questions and to grow, prosper and celebrate being alive while fully present here and now.

The Benefits of Being Open-Minded

For convenience I use the term “God” to refer to the Higher Power I’ve come to accept truly does exist and favors all of us without exception — no matter how understandably skeptical or even cynical we may have become about the existence of any such being.  By using that term, I do not mean to limit your freedom to use any other term you prefer.  If you are not sure that you believe in a Higher Power or Supreme Being of any kind by any name, perhaps that’s because you’ve had experiences that discourage such beliefs or have been told other messages about a less benevolent God-figure.  As an experiment, please consider being open-minded about the possibility that people who misrepresent God caused you to have distorted experiences and shared their mistaken messages without God’s authority to do so. Many people who claim to speak for God are ignorant, even arrogant, and won’t admit that they don’t know what they are talking about.  People can sincerely believe what they tell you and still be mistaken.  (To learn more about studies by David Dunning and Justin Kruger of Cornell University concerning why misinformed people can sound so confident about their mistaken beliefs, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect and related sites.)  We need not be trapped by mistakes, our own or others, and are free to re-examine all of our beliefs and rid our thinking of ones that are not helpful to our peace of mind.

Because God honors free will and does not punish people for their mistakes, many mistaken ideas about God are afloat in the world today without God’s insisting that they be corrected. God has gotten a poor reputation because He/She has been poorly represented by people, not because of God’s nature but because of the shortcomings of people who claim to speak for Her/Him.  You need not allow those mistaken ideas and misrepresentations to prevent you from accepting my help.  I encourage you to experiment with the possibility that God honors your heart and mind more than you may yet realize. In my doubtful times I was not confident in God’s being in my favor.  My self-doubts colored my doubts about God (and other people) too.  As you allow yourself to accept your doubts and have the courage to move forward in life despite your doubts, you’ll make discoveries that teach you more about life.  You’ll learn lessons in trusting yourself and others more and see how a God-connection improves your own life- and love-connections.  The truth about who you are to God as a cherished loved one will set you free to be all you desire to be — including less alone.  The mistaken beliefs and opinions of others, no matter how often or loudly repeated, need not deprive you of your good life as a beloved and loving person.  Sharing your heart, including your doubts and fears, is a good way to find the honest, trustworthy companionship you’ve been looking for.

It makes no more sense to avoid God’s help when you have a heartache or other life struggle than it does to avoid the dentist’s help when you have a toothache.  No matter what you may have heard about dentists or what you may be afraid about concerning dentists, you’re likely to look for a good one when you need one.  I urge you to consider the same logic about God.  Don’t let what you may have heard or what you may fear prevent you from benefitting from God’s care.  Both toothaches and heartaches can be relieved and teeth and hearts made healthy with proper care and nurture.  Tooth decay and life decay are not necessary features of life.  You have the power of choice to address both and even prevent a lot of both.

My Help Is Not Conditioned Upon Your Agreeing with Me

No matter what your spiritual beliefs may be or how unsure you may be about them right now, I can help you learn to make wise decisions about anything that matters to you – from personal and professional relationships, schools and areas of study to jobs, careers, where to live and more. We can take up any topic that is causing you stress right now and discover together ways to relieve that stress.  It is sometimes said that stress is a silent killer.  it can gradually deprive us of our physical, emotional and mental well-being and rob us of the joy of living life fully.  We need not let stress remain silent.  We can listen together to hear what stress is saying to you about the decisions you are facing.  The key to making wise decisions about what matters to you is having a person in your corner committed to your best interests who listens closely to you, helps you to clarify your values and priorities and provides experience-enriched guidance and emotional support as you explore your options and take steps to carry out your own vision for life as you most desire to express and experience it.  We need not agree about everything for me to serve you in this capacity as someone in your corner and on your side.  In fact, it may be in your best interests to intentionally include a consultant who is not a “yes” man and is willing to tell you things you don’t find easy to hear.

Being on Your Own Vision Quest

For you to be fully satisfied with it, your life must express your authentic nature as a warm-hearted, caring human being with unique interests, talents, passions, purposes and potentials. Your life has purpose.  It is your destiny to discover it. Many nonmodern cultures intentionally encourage their youth and young adults to undertake a vision quest in search of their life’s purpose.  Although modern society fails to encourage vision quests, I will aid you in your personal vision quest if you are curious to know your purpose and destiny. Having a clearer vision for your life makes it easier for you to experience freedom wisely.  You need not travel anywhere physically to undertake such a quest.

Within you is a unique vision and purpose for your life that excites your mind and expresses all your heart desires. Confusion about choices can cloud this vision. As you consult with me about your decisions and learn to master the art of decision-making by practice and experience, I’ll help you gain greater clarity and learn to thrive amid life’s mysteries on your journey through life.

Look at the panoramic scene appearing at the top of this page. That vista depicts life’s expansive nature. The invisible wind blowing the mist across the lake is like the Spirit of Love gently extending your presence across life’s mysteries. The sunlight revealed as a rainbow in the mist is your power to radiate your own multifaceted creativity. The power that energizes your life is like the sunlight that intersects with water springing from the Fountain of Life. It is a creative power waiting to express your personal rainbow of peace, hope and joy as you allow it to rise up from deep within you.  As you allow the elements of Life to intersect and mingle, you discover how to celebrate your life as the one you’re here to live uniquely as you in all your glorious authenticity.

The Hidden True Nature of People

Many people are shy or overly brash in social settings simply because they are afraid of their own creative power and pretend to be and act like someone they are not just to get along and avoid controversy or “rocking the boat.”  They censor their most creative ideas and hide their feelings because they fear what others might think if they shared them.  Instead of sharing their private thoughts and feelings, they adopt facades and put up walls that become false identities that trap them as “egos,” no longer being as free to be true to themselves.  Since they are not familiar or comfortable with it, their true power feels strange and perhaps even scary to them and they avoid expressing it or benefiting from it.

I will help you reconnect with and learn to express your true power as a creatively imaginative and idealistic person whose heart leads you through life wisely even when your mind is filled with questions and may doubt that you know the way to clarity.  My help is as simple as “two heads are better than one” and taps into the truth that “two hearts joined as one are better yet.”  Our heart-to-heart communication is essential to our success as collaborators in the fulfillment of your dreams.  Being sensitive to your emotions is part of learning to listen to your heart’s wisdom as God seeks to guide you.

The authenticity that I encourage you to enjoy is the alternative to merely pretending to be happy meeting everyone’s expectations except your own. You need not continue to pretend. You can be truly happy and well satisfied with yourself.  As you rediscover your authentic nature and learn again to be yourself wherever and with whomever you are, you’ll enjoy life more, make more progress and develop more forward momentum based on your own goals and desires. Yes, it’s true.  You can even reverse negative momentum and turn your life around from feeling lost in despair to soaring like an eagle in the air. You have an eagle’s power within you!  You can tap into your inner fountain of youth while you also gain a higher soaring perspective.  Once you learn how to fly, even the sky is no limit!

Reconnect with Your Inner Being and with Others by Learning about Your Wholeness

You can learn not to be afraid of your true nature as a powerful being. My purpose is to help you acquaint yourself with your own inner power and no longer be afraid to be the powerful person you are. Because, to one degree or another, many unhappy relationships, addictive lifestyles, excessive emotional dependencies and mental/emotional health disabilities include habits of avoiding your true nature and power and because we all learn these habits earlier in life, with the education I share with you, you can unlearn these habits and develop habits that set your inner power free to energize your life.

To sustain your health in all dimensions of life (physical, emotional, mental, social, volitional and spiritual), it is wise to make your decisions in light of the truth of who you are as whole human being. I’ll help you learn to do that. It is that simple. Once you develop your own insights and understandings about who you are and how to care for yourself and others based on the principles and practices of wholeness and love, you’ll need my help less and less and can apply your new mastery throughout the rest of your life as well as share it with others. In the final analysis, all I am is a person who encourages you to be aware of what you already know inside but may have lost confidence in listening to and trusting. My goal for you is the same goal I have for myself – to be a caring, independent and yet interdependent being who is capable of thinking for myself while I also listen to and consider what others have to share with me.  I will help you to master the art of personal autonomy rooted in gratifying intimacy and enriched by rewarding community experiences.

Just as a fountain’s misty vapors reveal sunlight’s shimmering rainbow of colors, so your inner power’s mysteries will reveal your full spectrum of ideas and talents as a creative being. My presence in your life as someone you trust helps you learn to spring forth from the waters of life to enjoy being true to yourself as you are also true to others you care about. You are here on earth in this modern era to activate your full potentials, rise beyond the level you’ve achieved thus far and be the change in the world that the world wants to see because everyone hungers for freedom, authenticity, beauty, justice and love as much as you and I do. No matter how dark or vaguely lighted the past chapters of your life may seem, the future chapters are brighter than you may be currently capable of imagining.  It’s true.  The best has yet to come!

© Art Nicol 2014