The Incomplete Skeptic Podcast

Nicole Kerr NDE

Award-winning health expert Nicole Kerr co-authored Eating the Rainbow: Lifelong Nutritional Wellness—Without Lies, Hype, or Calculus. She has appeared on CNN, PBS, CBS, ABC, the Food Channel, and other TV and radio shows to share her unique perspective on wellness, lifestyle, and nutrition.  

 

With a career spanning 30 years, Nicole has made significant contributions in diverse sectors, including government (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), non-profit (American Cancer Society), military (United States Air Force Medical Operations), academia (University of Hawaii), healthcare institutions/hospitals (Adventist Health Castle and Queens Medical Center), corporate settings (Sea Ties, LLC), and private consultation. Her warm and engaging presentations have resonated with international audiences, from corporate food producers to health and medical associations, as she advocates for realistic, meaningful, and happy choices for lifelong health and well-being.

 

Nicole's personal journey of healing and transformation began at the age of 19, when a Near-Death Experience at the United States Air Force Academy forced her to learn to live and love differently. The memory of the crash resurfaced 20 years later, and it took Nicole almost another two decades to align her soul, spirit, mind, and body, a testament to the non-linear nature of healing.

 

A disabled veteran, Nicole now maintains a part-time private practice primarily using the Neuro Emotional Technique (NET), targeting the often overlooked emotional, energy, and spiritual well-being domains.

Never Get Into a Pissing Contest with a Skunk - Upcoming Zoom Discussion

Wise words from my old Sponsor (Spiritual Advisor): 'Never get into a pissing contest with a skunk.'

 

This is the first of three principles we'll discuss next Saturday at 1:00 PM Central.  I hope you'll join our Zoom!

 

We're also discussing 2 other concepts. 

 

H.A.L.T: Hungry (eat right), Angry (watch for extreme emotional imbalance), Lonely (we're only as sick as our secrets, so don't isolate), Tired (get enough sleep and rest).  How does neglecting our emotional and physical health affect our freedom of choice?

 

Lastly, we'll discuss having a 'profound alteration in our reaction to life.'  The truth is that we don't see life as it is.  We see it as we are.  Change your mind, change your life.  Take your power back.

 

I hope you'll join us in this one-hour Zoom on November 18th!  Share your wisdom with us on The Incomplete Skeptic Podcast Zoom meeting!  It'll also be Live on Facebook if the technology allows it.  

The Incomplete Skeptic: Guest Paul Mickelson, Resotrative Justice Expert & Bringing Wisdom from Pain

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Incomplete Skeptic. Here we explore marginalized ideas and the people behind them.  

Today’s Guest on The Incomplete Skeptic is Paul Mickelson.  Here is his Website:  https://mickelsonconsulting.org/.  

Some of my interviews are not for the timid of heart, but this one is harder than most to hear.  That is why I made the YouTube video 'Age Restricted' (for adults only).  If I can do that here, too, I will.  YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!  

In this episode, because we will be talking about prisons and corrections; I must straightaway admit that I am an ex-convict. I have served two major incarcerations and several minor incarcerations. But I am more than my mug shot.  I've been out of prison since August of 90 and sober since August of 90.  Connect the Dots...

When I was in the Missouri prison system at Jefferson City, I recall a professor who said, 'It is important to have the courage of our convictions, but it is imperative that we have the courage to question our convictions'. I love that idea. I think that is what The Incomplete Skeptic is all about. In this episode, be warned that you might be shocked to hear about some of the things that happen in correctional settings.  This episode is not for the faint of heart, but if you are able to deal with harsh realities and move past them in our Search for the Holy Grail called Forgiveness, then you'll see that forgiveness is more powerful than the offense that calls it to the Round Table.

The Incomplete Skeptic believes that the Restorative Justice practice is one of the best things that has happened to help people rediscover and recover their sense of original worth.  'Making direct amends to those we have harmed, except when doing so would injure them or others' is a stellar way to bring peace and healing to the wounded among us.  Oprah once opined that we should make our wounds our wisdom.  If ever healing were more needed, we need to look no further than corrections in the USA and abroad.

Paul is a member of the Full Circle Advisory Board that I recently joined. We are a group of ex-convicts trying to make a difference in the system. While Paul is not an ex-convict (and is the only one in our group that has not done time), his compassionate sense of intelligence garnered my respect. There is a saying in prison that 'no one comes out the way they went in'. I think that is true for both convicts and staff.  Paul acknowledges this as true.

Here is some of Paul's history:

1978:  Graduated High School. 

1983: Graduated from UMD (University of Minnesota Duluth), holding a Sociology degree with a criminal justice emphasis.

1984-1992:  After graduating from college, Paul started working for the Bureau of Prisons.

1992-2013: He left the BOP as a supervisor and started with the Department of Corrections (DOC), wherein he pioneered and operated the Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP), the first medium security unit at Moose Lake Correctional Facility.

He also opened and supervised the first Sex Offender treatment unit at Moose Lake and coordinated the largest medium security expansion there.

2013: He retired as Discipline Unit Supervisor.   He went on to develop and coordinate the Restorative Justice Program for at-risk youth in Carlton County, Minnesota. Paul left the county in 2018 and was hired by the Department of Human Services (DHS) as ICMS Coordinator, helping staff navigate conflict and deepen working relationships through Restorative Responses.

2022: Retired from DHS.

Paul is currently the Co-owner of Mickelson Consulting LLC.  He works with a number of School Districts on the implementation of Restorative Justice practices.

A Few Thoughts on The Garden of Eden, Reclaiming Our Innocence, and Turning Our Lives Over to the Care of God

If you want to help my Ministry and Phoenix 490, please free to join my email list or donate a few bucks (paste in your browser): www.cameron-communicationz.org/checkout/donate?

Alms for the Poor. :-)

Love one another.

If you want to join my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/QuantumCommunicationz/

or my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-g-cameron-21b91b32/

...or...read some of my poetry: https://allpoetry.com/Timothy_Cameron

If you want to hear about a certain topic or aspect of my life as a person in long-term recovery (and free from prison for as long as I've been sober...hint-hint), please feel free to ask.

Thanks for tuning in and caring about my Journey.

DOS is 8/19/1990.  Sober 32 years and out of prison 32 years.  Be a Dot Connector.  :-)

Deb H.: Sober 37 Years! Sober Wise Guy Episode. From Abuse to Recovery.

Deb H. made a difference in my early recovery. She went through more in her childhood than I did. I felt less alone to find this out. She works a solid Program. I have many friends who have endured impossible odds to get and stay in recovery. I thank every one of you for touching my life. Please share this story with anyone that has suffered a traumatic childhood.

 

Welcome to the Voice of the Incomplete Skeptic, Sober Wise Guy series. 

In today’s day and age, it’s important to bestow our voice for loved ones online. As they say, no one lives forever, so if you're in long-term recovery, please consider leaving your Voice as a Guest on SWG.  Family and friends will one day yearn to hear your Voice and feel the spirit of what your life meant to them.

And for the strangers at the gate, many folks are probably wondering if they need sobriety or not. Your story may help save a life!

On SWG, I interview “Old Timers”, that is people who are 30 years or more ‘clean & sober’.    To some extent in recovery, Old Timers are occasionally marginalized.  People assume they don’t need positive reinforcement, or that they have big egos and should be summarily dismissed as less important than Newcomers to recovery.  

Newcomers are the lifeblood of the body of recovery.  Perhaps Old Timers might be viewed as the backbone of recovery, while God is the Spirit of Recovery which animates us all.

The objective of SWG is to share ESJ, “Experience, Strength, and Hope” with the still-suffering addict or alcoholic, and to inform the public about what the recovered life looks like. 
My guest today is Deb H!  She is a Survivor of serious childhood trauma, i.e., emotional, spiritual, and sexual abuse.  

I asked Deb, 'WHAT IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT ANYONE COULD EVER GIVE YOU?'  Her answer was that she is "authentic".  She is that.  

 

Transparency:  I have known this woman since I first sobered up and seriously...I was a real basket case.  God used her Voice to help me know I am not alone and demonstrated that anyone can move through the worst that life can throw at them, if they just 'Turn It Over to God, One Day At A Time."  

 

In many ways, her life was understandable to me.  It's as if HP (Higher Power) put exactly the right words in her mouth right when I needed to hear it.  This happened with many people in my early recovery, but Deb and my alignment had a dimension to it that is unusual.  

PTSD after experiencing trauma is normal.  Even after decades in recovery, there is a part of us that still needs to 're-heal'.  We heal, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but it will always materialize if we work for it.  We can have a largely functional life as long as we don't add drugs or alcohol to our defects of character.

I don't trust people that are too squeaky-clean.  LOL!  It's not illegal to be crazy.  It's only illegal to act crazy.  When I drink, I act crazy.  When I don't drink, I stay out of prison.  Not a bad deal, this recovery is.  

 

I love the 12 Steps.  Deb proves that recovery works!  But right now, she needs our prayers.  Her mother passed away.  Please hold her in prayer.

Pre-speech Contemplations, Dreams, Godly Visions-Life Clarity

I was meditating on what to say at a Forgiveness Panel at The Twin Cities Prison Ministry back in October. I was really 'talking to myself' but recording it to rehear my thoughts more objectively. The Panel went well, as did the other speech I presented the following week at the Minnesota Corrections Annual gathering.

In this recording, I talked about some creams I had that I felt were from God. Deep forgiveness on task, no doubt. Forgiving the unforgiveable means at some point that there's nothing to forgive.

Circumspections, Speech Readiness, Sychronicities, Dream World

I had a dream in the work house about 47 years ago.  I still use it as a Guiding Light in my life.

 

I was recently preparing for speeches, and contemplation my alignment with God and my Fellow (usefullness).

 

And yeah, thinking out loud, basically.  Hope you like getting lost in thought.

 

A Clip From ”Spiritual Madness: The Necessity of Meeting God in Darkness”

I listened to this during meditation and recorded this clip and a little story for you.  Caroline Myss is one of my Life Changing Agents.  I hope you like the story.  Her audiobook helped me survive the darkest period of my life.

I want to start a book club, or a weekly ZOOM meeting surrounding The Dark Night of the Soul. When possible, I would have discussions about life lessons learned by the Authors themselves (and Q & A from audience members) about the books we read.

 

I'm hoping to help people overcome seemingly impossible odds, as we share spiritual experiences that elevated us to have a profound alteration in our reaction to life.

 

'Every person we meet has the potential to change the rest of your life, and you have the potential to change theirs. How would you live differently if you understood the beautiful meaning of pain?'

 

Regardless of the skepticism of others or of your own skepticism, be willing to explore every layer and level of pain from the inside out.

 

Remember, except for the Grace of God, there go I.

MEEK: Power Under Control & Mean People

EGO, pain, consequences, NDE, mean people, rising above problems through meekness (as defined in ancient times).

My Story Spoken at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: ”Which Plays a Larger Role in Shaping One’s Recovery: Success or Failure?”

"Which Plays a Larger Role in Shaping One's Recovery: Success or Failure?"

Timothy Cameron's BIO:  
✔Healer of Broken Hearts, MADD/Restorative Justice Speaker, Author of 'The Little Book of Miracles, Stories from the Incomplete Skeptic', Christian Mystic, Poet, Prodigal Son Returned Home.

Timothy Cameron is a MADD "Victim Impact Panel" speaker since January of 1991.  He is in long-term AA recovery since August of 1990, and joined Al-Anon in May of 1991.  

As coal is transformed by time and great pressure into a diamond, Timothy Cameron's story reveals how Trials by Fire can refine and transform hearts and minds and 'Turn Lives Around.'  Timothy Cameron served 13 1/2 years as an Insider.  He says, "I Am More Than My Mugshot:  Where There is Justice, Let There be Restoration & Forgiveness."

He now speaks tirelessly to Deconstruct Recidivism & Relapse.  Most prisoners suffer from Trauma, and law enforcement personnel often suffer from Compassion Fatigue; by revealing how his life was transformed from tragedy & trauma into alchemical triumph, he births wellness & healing in the consciousness of Offenders and Law Enforcement Professionals alike.  He has spoken at many treatment centers, correctional facilities, religious organizations, schools, and colleges.

Both Offenders and Law Enforcement Professionals have experienced trauma in the system and society; Timothy acquaints listeners with a catalyst for deep forgiveness to reconcile the trauma.  As a MADD Speaker embracing Restorative Justice concepts to prevent drunk driving, he seeks to heal the wounded hearts of audiences, introducing deep forgiveness to tear down walls of resistance.  Some Offenders have reported their lives being changed after hearing Timothy's Story.  

Timothy Cameron unveils tools for dismantling recidivism from the Prodigal Son's POV.  In the late 1980s, the chief prison psychiatrist at MCF-OPH placed the following prognosis in Timothy's profile: "It's a foregone conclusion Timothy Cameron will spend the rest of his life in prison".  Never believe any prediction or story that doesn't empower you.  He's also a Poet and a writer.

Timothy organized 'Phoenix 490', a network of Impact Speakers who confront a wide breadth of societal issues, ranging from substance abuse, alcohol-impaired driving, healing racism, and rebuilding trust between the police and community at large.

Change begins with honesty.  Timothy poetically measures his stories after the Intuitive Tradition. You'll find intuitive reasons for refreshment, knowing that Change is Real.