Bobbie Burdett's Page

Hometown:

Asheville, NC

Relationship Status:

Married

About Me:

I grew up in the mountains of California and now live in the mountains of North Carolina. I tuned in, turned on, and dropped out in the 60's; was a co-creator of the first wellness center in the US in Mill Valley, CA in the 70's; hit the road with my husband, dog and cat for a year in a trailer while we explored America in the 80's; divorced and found out what I was made of in the 90's; and this decade I'm remarried, recommitted and making a difference in whatever ways I can.

Website 1:

http://authenticoach.com

Website 2:

http://metalschmidt.com

Favorite Music:

David Wilcox, James Taylor, all the women jazz singers, Leonard Cohen, Leon Redbone, all the Celtic folks, new age, Peggy Lee, all the old standards that my mother loved. I'll share some when I figure out how.

Favorite Books:

I Ching
Tao Te Ching
Pema Chodrin
Rumi
Positive Psychology
Social Neurobiology (Dan Siegel and Dan Goleman)
Byron Katie
Ken Wilber (what I understand of it )
Karen Armstrong
Lots of others -- I'm a confirmed biblioholic

Favorite Movies:

Bagdad Cafe
Babette's Feast
Harold & Maud
Forrest Gump
All of Joseph Campbell's DVDs

Favorite TV Shows:

The Dog Whisperer
History Channel
PBS

What do you do to make a living?

I'm a life coach, wellness coach, and wellness coaching trainer.
www.authenticoach.com
www.mywellnesstest.com
http://www.wellpeople.com/certification.asp

What kind of hobbies do you have?

My husband is a metal sculptor. I've done all kinds of art throughout my life, but now I'm learning metalwork. I love making assemblage items out of found metal objects. (see our website at www.metalschmidt.com) Few things make me happier than getting grubby in the studio.

I also love: listening to the trees when the wind blows, all things beautiful, hanging out with my sweet hubby and friends, and doing my mind-body-spirit practices. I also love sharing NHNE articles with my lists and keeping up with friends all over the world.

In a world where you were pursuing your deepest, most heartfelt callings, what would you be doing?

Exactly what I'm doing, with a few tweaks here and there.

What is the most important thing you have learned in your life?

1) As Albert Hofmann once said, "There are many realities."
2) As Bob Dylan said, "He who is not busy being born is busy dying."
3) As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
4) As I've said for 35 years (not sure if I heard it somewhere first), "Tell the truth, trust the process, and get the hell out of the way."
5) If you want to be happy, contribute to others.

Describe a belief that you previously held and then subsequently changed. What caused you to change your mind?

I used to believe that making a contribution to others required that I give them something. Now I believe that the biggest contribution I can make is to ask the right question and to listen.

Favorite quote is from Rabbi Zalman Schachter: "When the ear hears what the mouth is saying,
the soul surprises the mind."

Who do you admire most in the world (past and/or present) and why?

Lao Tzu and Rumi from the past
Byron Katie in the present
All of them have found their way to live in the Tao with great mind and great heart.
There are many, many others, but these are the folks who come up for me now.

At this turbulent moment in history, what do you think is the most important thing a person can do to help humankind (and the rest of the planet) survive the many dangers that confront us?

I suppose there are as many ways as there are humans. From my perspective, one thing we can do is to work on cleaning our own mind-body-spirit house and then join with others who have done and are doing the same. It creates a recycling consciousness engine that makes us all a lot more effective so that when we take an action in the world it will have more of an impact. As Einstein noted, we can't solve the problem with the same mindset with which the problem was created. We have to get bigger than the problem to find the solutions. Hanging out with and contributing to other folks who are working to create more effective memes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme) is a good use of one's time. So here we are....
And the last, most important bit is to take action. Think globally, act locally. To ask the question, what can I do right where I am, with what I have, to contribute to solutions?

What are your answers to the big questions: Who are we? Where are we from? Why are we here? Where are we headed?

Don't know about anyone else, but I've always felt that I'm here to learn and to holler a great big "YES!" to Life.

Hell if I know where we're headed, but I suspect it's on to more learning and hopefully a whole lot more affirmative exclamations to life!

Why did you decide to join this community?

Why not? Good folks, interesting content, sane outlooks. Thanks, David.