Bill has always enjoyed real life events that render some kind of interesting story to tell.  At 16 years of age, his travels began with working up north in Fort Nelson, British Columbia where he changed and repaired tires of Trimac trucks and trailers for a summer.  After experiencing the death of his older brother David, that September, in 1970 , Bill's priorities began to change.  His life shifted,  from athlete, 'scrapper' and drinker, to exploring the art of meditation, exploring new friends, and experimenting with song writing on the acoustic guitar. 

A few years later, by working with a MacMillan Bloedell logging division on the hills of Kennedy Lake on Vancouver Island, he earned enough money for himself and a friend, Rob Walker, to fly to Spain. There on the Mediterranean shore, they both completed a meditation teacher training course taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.   And that was in a time when meditation practice was neither understood nor socially accepted.

It was quite a learning curve, considering Bill's emotional development and maturity was to take another ten years before even beginning to unravel.   It took the birth of his daughter, and the responsibility of raising two step-children, to begin moving  from 'adolescent selfishness'  to  the  'consideration of others' .

His career changes have taken him from building homes, to retail furniture sales and management, to landscape and septic field installations, and on to institutional cooking in extended care home settings.  Bill never chose to take the route of University education and resultant professional career.  Instead, he chose a path filled with unexpected challenges.  He has no regrets.

Over the years, Bill has traveled throughout Canada and the United States.  He has visited Switzerland, France, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.  Recently, during 2005-2007, he spent lengthy periods of time helping with Tsunami aid and rebuilding projects out of the Amritapuri, India ashram under the auspices of Mata Amritananda Mayi.  His service work gave him the opportunity to help with construction of the Amma Setu bridge, and assist in building about 50 small brick and concrete homes.  In the process, he visited a wide variety of urban and rural areas across India.  Since marrying his wife, Veronica, in Hong Kong in 2007, he has visited his new 'extended-family' of Philippine farmers twice. 

His hobbies include writing songs and playing simple tunes on his guitar for physically challenged adults in his hometown of Duncan, BC, Canada.  He enjoys playing soccer with his eight year old Filipino daughter Jizelle.  His 21 year old daughter Daelyn is a friendly, giving and thoughtful gal who is presently wrestling with two jobs to survive.  His step-daughter, Sara, has just completed her nursing degree and is now a committed and dedicated mom to her son, daughter and stepson.  Bill's fun-loving and outgoing step-son, Wesley, creates tables and cabinets, after hours, in his machine shop at back of his Lake Cowichan home. 

Throughout Bill's life are experiences that need to be told.  He is grateful to share his stories with any and all who might enjoy them.  He has a different perspective that some may find appealing, while others may not.  

Below are photos courtesy of  Amritapuri.org.  They show the concrete and steel bridge project Bill was fortunate to be a part of.

Staying connected with family is something Bill is learning to appreciate these days.  His wife Veronica is often overwhelmed by the abundance of extended-family members in Canada.

Bill met Paul 30 years ago, while playing songs for a room full of physically challenged adolescents at the Victoria Children's Hospital.  Bill has yet to meet residents of care facilities who do not enjoy simple guitar melodies.





Below is the particular song that was written for Paul, 30 years ago. 
It  is titled: "Hey There, My Little Shining One"