BIOGRAPHY

Dave Joy is a "just a regular guy" who one day hit "bottom" when his life was spiraling out of control. The Course was given to him in 1986 by Phoebe Lauren, then Director of Operations for Jerry Jampolsky's Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, CA.

Dave graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and currently works as a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader.

Since the early '80s, Dave has been active in the art of "mindful meditation" (vipassana) and several forms of yoga (kundalini, bhakti, and ashtanga); he is certified as a Master Hypnotist (in Hypnodharma Facilitation) from Alive and Well!, and is a skilled hospice counselor.

Though growing up in South Carolina, Dave thinks of many places as "home," most notably Marin County in California, but also Kauai (Hawaii), Sedona (Arizona), and Cape Cod (Massachusetts).

Also certified in gemology and diamond grading from the Gemological Institute of America, Dave was fortunate to learn the kind of lapidary skills possessed by relatively few people in the world. Under the training of Glenn Lehrer, GG, a world-renowned gemstone artist, master goldsmith, and visionary in the science of crystallography and vibrational healing, Dave developed his skills to become head of Glenn's production studio in Northern California. During that time he cut and polished thousands of crystal objects of all sizes, from carved hummingbirds and crystal wands to "Mega-gems" such as a museum-quality, 100-pound clear quartz stone that was commissioned in 1988 by a client who later sold it for more than a quarter-million dollars. Dave still occasionally carves and polishes jewelry-quality gemstones as a hobby.

An avid amateur golfer, Dave plays golf regularly, usually to an 8 handicap.

THE "FICTION" that my life had become would soon be over. In 1980 my life was about as surreally frustrating as I could have ever imagined it could become. Two marriages, two divorces, and all I could think of was how in God's name could all this have happened to me before age 30? I was not a "happy puppy" at all!

Amazingly, by 1986, it managed to get still worse before it had the chance to get better... WHY? Very simply... beecause I still hadn't SUFFERED ENOUGH so that I would be willing to STOP and assimilate all that had happened to me in my short, miserable life so far. I thought I could still get away with the "status quo" of my life by simply avoiding pain and seeking after pleasure... crashing and burning again and again. When I was finally ready to receive help, help came in the most unexpected form.

The BREAKTHROUGH came when a friend recognized what was going on with me and gave me a copy of A Course in Miracles. What is so interesting about this self-paced training course is the fact that it rarely makes sense or attracts anyone who has not yet experienced a spirit-crushing breakdown in their life.

Before The Course came to me, one of my closest friends pulled me aside and told me my gravestone should read the following:
"He died waiting for someone to make him happy."

Ouch. It hurt to hear this, but because it came from someone I loved and respected, I took it in anyway and let it add to my burden of guilt and anxiety.

But not long after I started studying The Course...everything changed: I began to see that I was not, in fact, a powerless victim in the world. THE MOST AMAZING THING WAS THAT NOTHING EXTERNAL CHANGED... it was my PERCEPTION that changed, and because I began seeing the world through gentler, more forgiving eyes, the world began to "hug" me right back.

Today, in this totally crazy, insane world, I have been able to keep my gentle sense of humor, despite every reason the world gives us to run around fearfully as though our hair were on fire. The most obvious lesson that still makes the most sense to me is this: Be the change you wish to see in the world. For unless you become the source of peace for youself and others, you will see it nowhere.

Peace to you... and may you receive the Peace of God by extending it to all those around you!

Dave
(c)2007