Who Is This Dave Guy?

Thank you emily for passing me the talking piece. My name is Dave. I'm a caregiver and a listener. I am a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an uncle, and a friend. I was born in Denver, Colorado, and lived the first 20 years of my life, east of the Rockies. I moved west of the Rockies and found myself in the Puget Sound area and have lived in Seattle/ Shoreline for the last 20+ years.

I spent decades teaching in both the public and private systems. Years of my life, teaching many different groups and topics. After a while, I realized I wanted to do something different. I really was interested in healing and working with people; to make sure they were getting their needs met, and particularly feeling heard. So, I went back to school and got a graduate degree in therapy as a marriage and family therapist. I spent five years serving in public mental health and 4 years ago I transitioned to private practice. Throughout my time with these institutions I was seeking a different way, a way that worked better.

Skip back to 5 years ago, while eating a meal with Jabali. I remember him drawing a circle, and explaining four quadrants and how he had been changed by participating in the process himself. This was not my first interaction with Jabali. We had been spending time together for almost a decade at this point, so I knew this was something I wanted to learn too. From there I did a training, and was honored and grateful to sit with Keiko Ozeki and Jabali Stewart who have been my teachers for the past 4 years. I want to express my deep gratitude to all of the Huayruo members, who I consider all my teachers - thank you for sitting with me.

The circle process, and being a member of Huayruro these last three years has changed my life. Fundamentally, I have a different appreciation for sitting with difficulty. I know myself better than I have ever in my whole life. I feel heard and loved, in a way I have been looking for a long time. I find myself wanting to be in circle more and more. I am continuing to learn more about myself and I am a better listener to my whole community.

Another thing about me I want to share is that I am a fisherman. I love water. I taught myself how to fly fish in my 20’s and have had a love for rivers my entire life. I've recently learned how to harvest crabs out of the beautiful Puget Sound from my 10 ft. kayak. I love the Pacfic Northwest and the beauty it offers. I love animals, particularly birds. I am the proud caregiver to many hummingbirds, juncos, finch, robin, crows, chickadees, and recently a rufous-sided towhee.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate you.

I'd like to pass the talking piece to Monica...