"I salute the light within your eyes..."

reflecting with beloved mentor Bill Redfield

I am so grateful to Bill Redfield for his mentorship over the past seven years. Bill has served as a clinical social worker as well as an Episcopal priest, and his framework of Wisdom Mentoring will be fleshed out in his new online program this fall.

“Based on a Wisdom-oriented understanding of human life and purpose, Wisdom Mentoring assists another to grow into the fullness of their own specific and unique being." Bill’s approach to mentoring is subtly yet profoundly different than other approaches I’ve experienced, and I’m delighted to give you, my muses, a taste of his presence and a glimpse into our connection.

Our conversation, recorded on August 24th, 2024, started with a bow to Indigenous wisdom: Crazy Horse’s 1877 prophecy, which I most recently re-read in Sherri Mitchell’s powerful book Sacred Instructions:

“Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations, a world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things, and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am in that place within me, we shall be as one.”

Later in the conversation, I talk about the profound impact of Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona on my bipolar journey: Lewis “speak[s] about traditional healing, about how psychotherapy and medicine can be modified to include the insights of traditional healing.” I will forever be grateful to my muse/friend/chiropractor Andrea Coates Vinson for placing Mehl-Madrona’s book Narrative Medicine in my hands just a few days after my first inpatient hospitalization. The aboriginal perspective offered by Mehl-Madrona was a lifeline.

For those of you who enjoy reading Monday Morning Muse, my apologies that there is no transcription of this post. Based on the way I recorded, there wasn’t a quick-and-easy way of getting that. Lesson learned for the future, but if anyone reading this needs the transcription in order to access this content, please send me a direct message or comment on the post and I’ll dig further and find a work-around.

Blessings upon blessings, beloved muses, and thank you, Bill.

This selfie of Bill & me comes from earlier this year @ a favorite coffee shop in Exeter, NH.