Who We Are

Ron King - ron@omah.org

Over 22 years ago I lay in bed in the fetal position once again after a night of using drugs, which I had been trying to stop for over 20 years. As tears ran down my face I wondered again is there no way out? I remembered hearing that maybe drugs are a symptom, so what is the root? I also remembered hearing about looking in a fresh way, without the stored messages, and just being aware that they are there. At that time of my life I lived like someone with their hands covering their eyes as they walked and kept falling in a ditch. Now, through looking and questioning there seems to be a new awareness. The ditches may be there, but there can now be awareness of them. It’s been over 22 years since I used a drug. I am so grateful. 

The loving connections that happen in the spaces that Opening Minds and Hearts brings has been transformative. There seems to be a loving energy / power that moves in the space - where the silence that happens in the space can bring about a shifting within. This is a diverse group of people. There is space for all. Join us as we look within and out to see and bring change.

Steve Harrell - steve@omah.org

I had a career, or more like the beginnings of one, as a PhD Economist working on policies attempting to improve the world, while viewing the world as separate from me. At the same time, I was grappling with basic life questions that seemed unrelated to my work efforts, such as “Who am I really?” and “What is life really about?”. Dealing with the incredible pain and sorrow of an unexpected death of a very close loved one broke my heart and mind wide open, and moved these basic life questions to the forefront of my life.

Among many shifts in understanding that emerged, what became apparent is that each of us must explore our basic questions and see for ourselves if we, as individuals and as a society, are to deeply change (e.g., Unless we see ourselves as an integral part of the world and each other, attempts to address conflict and division seem very limited). This understanding inspired a career shift to come together with others in community as equals to explore space wide openly for each of us to see for ourselves, to explore a direct and immediate relationship with the vastness of life, and to allow for change in each of us to be born of new insight rather than force or attempted control.

T. Thaddaeus Brown - t.thaddaeus@omah.org

Having stumbled through the better part of my living experience - over half of a century - in a trauma induced constructed and conditioned fog…this is newness, it is nothingness and everything with no attachment and no detachment, an opening to explore and discover myself as part of a greater whole. This is about blank space in which to explore however and wherever my mind and heart may lead with no fixed destination or conclusiveness of knowing. It’s purely exploration of my awareness, what I feel/see in my being, what resonates within and evokes some new fresh awareness of my being in connection and relationship with that which is greater than i - all of space and that which exists beyond my present awareness, knowing and understanding. For me this is about being present in the moment with all that is, in a spirit of non-judgemental, compassionate, empathetic and undirected good will. 

For me this is newness, it is nothingness and everything…O’ btw, I hold a PhD in Health and Human Services Administration and a Masters in Business, a plethora of other academic and professional alphabet soup, and admit that I don’t know anything…just being open to exploring in the now…seeing what comes up, and what becomes possible…

Freddie Pickens - freddie@omah.org

Born in Anderson, South Carolina, not having a clue how my life would turn out, or what a life mine would be. Leaving South Carolina at the age of one, my mother and father were no longer together, something I didn’t understand. Being an only child I didn’t realize what I was missing until later on in life. My mother sheltered me from the world not knowing that this would later on in my life create more trauma. My teenage years is where the trauma would begin to show the in and out of the prison system, the drugs and alcohol. Life just was on a downward spiral. 

I found myself on a playing field in a losing battle until I met a brother named Ron who was on a path that I wanted for myself, just couldn’t or should I say didn’t know how to get there because I always tried to do things on my own. Through this journey I had the opportunity to meet T.Thaddaeus, Stephen Harrell, Tilia Gode, David, Mason and Anna D. Together we created Opening Minds and Hearts (OMAH). Although our backgrounds are different, our hearts align.

Tilia Gode

I’ve lived a life of purpose, trying to help ease the pain and burdens of life for my physically disabled parents. I immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 on my own in that pursuit. I studied hard, I worked hard, and had a successful career as an Actuary which allowed me to bring my parents to the United States and take care of them. Somewhere along the way I lost track of myself and what mattered, which included the breakdown of my past marriage. The loss of innocence, the pain of a broken heart, the fear of loneliness, brought about an awareness that reality might be different than what I perceived.

I began to notice my inner workings, the pause between my thoughts and the richness of my inner world. I began to connect more deeply with myself. I began to be more in touch with the love I have for my parents and for the suffering of the world. I became deeply curious about the connection amongst us all. I met beautiful people along the way and we all created OMAH, a place for everyone to come together as equals and explore our most fundamental questions of existence in community.

Anna Davda

I’ve always been drawn toward ‘real talk’ - when people are open, honest, and vulnerable with each other. At 7, I learned a staggering lesson about the preciousness and mysteriousness of life when my mother suddenly passed away.  At 19, I stumbled upon meditation and discovered how rich silence and turning inward could be. Throughout my life, I’ve had the opportunity to live and work in six countries (and travel to many more) and reveled in connecting with and learning from many people, cultures, and ways of life. And in the past 10 years, I’ve been realizing (and rewriting) the myth of separateness and individualism that I had subscribed to.

What we are about as Opening Hearts and Minds centers all of these important topics: openness, honesty, and vulnerability; the preciousness and mystery of life; the power of silence and self-awareness; and the importance of community.

Mason Harrell

My bio includes MD, MPH, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, U.S. Navy, and startups; however, who/what I am is a mystery to me. Although, I recognize I have a lot of subconscious beliefs about me that quickly rear their head with my knee-jerk defending reactions to keep my image safe. 

OMAH is my passion as a continuous experiment of joining together to consumingly listen and share with intentions of opening up our hearts and minds for opportunities for heart-to-heart aliveness, newness, and in-it-togetherness. Questioning together, feeling into the underneath drivers of knee-jerk ways of assuming and reacting, and celebrating our shared universal foundation of this human experience is why I join in with OMAH.

David Levine

For most of my life I defined myself as an academically smart person who thought it logical to use my privilege to try to heal the world. Over the years I've learned I love all humanity; it is not just logic that motivates me. 

So now I quest to connect to that love inside me more consistently, along with awe at the wonder of creation and gratitude for the countless blessings in my life. My research tries to heal the world, one randomized trial at a time -- and with the humility to learn from each person (of any age). Enjoying life, spending time with friends and my wonderful family, building community. It keeps me busy. At my (rare) best, I engage all that busy-ness while connected to the love within me.