A lifelong devotion to a spiritual path beginning as an alter-boy in the Roman Catholic Church, then youth sports, the Cub Scouts, musicianship, mountaineering, mysticism, psycho-spiritual studies, architectural services, industrial design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications leading to a corporate studio career in Hollywood.
Blessed by synchronistic twists and turns along the way, Richard found himself at the “Foot of the Goddess” in 1994. The wisdom and guidance of the Holy Mother became relentlessly suppressed by organized religion and toxic patriarchy becoming the greatest kept secret from mankind.
Richard contemplated his adolescent years where the masculine role models available through his community, church, school, and workplace often dismissed the feminine as: over emotional, less than, weaker, manipulative, and a seductive object of carnal desires.
Over the next 6 years he initiated into a mystery school priesthood and earnestly studied the truth of Divine Feminine power through deity, archetype and of her suppressed influence through out the history of human evolution. He also researched Divine Masculine deity and archetype as role models for functional manhood. It became clear to Richard that men and women had become estranged to one another not by choice, but by social design attempting to fool us into the unconscious state of fear, lack and limitation of modern day slavery.
Working in a corporate setting by day, evenings were devoted to helping others move through psychosomatic barriers gaining insights and awareness of their own latent talents and abilities.
Rounding out this counseling practice, he become an Agape Licensed Spiritual Practitioner in 2005 and as fate would have it, faced a life threatening health challenge leading to his own reconciliation as an uninitiated Boy who thought he was a Man.
Richard was invited into various men’s initiation programs where he embodied and engaged in divine masculine principles. It was there during a drum meditation led by a 1st Nations elder where his purpose was revealed:
“I bring Heaven to Earth by empowering the heart, mind, body and soul of the Divine masculine and feminine in everyone I know”, and honored with the name: Grateful Bear.
Today Richard the Grateful Bear continues living a vital life of outrageous gratitude offering business and personal empowerment services through out California.