creative offerings
Revisions – Seeing Old Stories with New Eyes
A reactive mind need not be master over one’s heart, sabotaging true happiness and blinding us to the beauty of life. By “revisioning” our old stories we can turn ruminations into illuminations. How do we see the world? Do we count our injustices or our blessings? Each story presented here gives an example of both, moving the reader from a limiting perspective into a more positive and loving point of view. Perhaps these stories will inspire you to look again at your own.
This book contains seventy-three stories that can be used for daily meditation, to inspire discussion in therapeutic groups, to support themes of pastoral presentations and lectures, or simply to immerse oneself in the lyrical prose.
“This is a book of deep spirituality that I can return to over and over again.” – Ramon Sender Barayon, Author, Being of the Sun and A Death in Zamora
“If wisdom had weight, you would not be able to lift this little book!” – Thom Rutledge, Author, Sit Down & Shut Up: A Guide to Simple Meditation & Wisdom and Embracing Fear and Finding the Courage to Live Your Life
“In addition to reading this book, I suggest you hold it close to your heart and feel it!” – don Allan Hardman, Toltec Master and Author, The Everything Toltec Wisdom Book
A book sample:
The Tear
Old Story – It has risen from your depths and teeters in the corner of your eye, paused by your uncertainty. Mustering all your strength you tug at this sign of weakness, but it is too late. Once released you cannot will it back inside you. This tear is personal and was never to be shared. It represents your greatest sorrow, your deepest wound. And now you have betrayed yourself in a thoughtless moment of surrender, giving away what you vowed to keep always.
New Story – This drop of water has lived a million years. Over and over, it has risen to the sky and fallen to the earth. It has trickled from many eyes, soothed the brow of a leper, washed the feet of an apostle. It has carved the Grand Canyon and leapt from Angel Falls. And one day it merged with you for but a blink in the eye of the universe. It never belonged to you; it has always belonged to the world. Perhaps, you think, with a spark of joy, this tear will next slake the thirst of the weary on the road to Santiago or Mecca. With love, you let it roll gracefully down your beautiful cheek and continue its journey. It has places to go.
Speaking engagements on many topics. May include humor and uplifting songs, presented with guitar.
I have been telling my story and sharing insights at podiums and onstage from coast to coast for five decades in many diverse settings.
I first began speaking in recovery meetings around New England at the age of eighteen, giving testimony about addiction, sobriety, and the journey of life. Soon after, I embarked on a musical path, writing songs and taking to the stage, eventually performing around the country. This enabled me to also carry a message, both in words and in song. Years later, as we entered the new millennium, I was given unexpected and unique opportunities to learn and grow personally. This resulted in a new lyrical and musical focus, embracing themes of light, love, healing, and empowerment.
Venues over the years have included treatment centers, psychiatric hospitals, children’s hospitals, retreats, workshops, symposiums, schools, senior living communities, churches of various denominations, indigenous ceremonies, and spiritual gatherings at historic sites. Hundreds of performances include the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Kerrville Folk Festival, Mountain Stage, Armadillo World Headquarters, and the Bluebird Cafe.
If you are interested in hosting a presentation, please contact me for more details.
For recovery facilities, spiritual organizations, private events, individuals, and more.
- Process Groups, Various Addiction Recovery Topics
- Medicine Wheel – Learning from Totems & Metaphors
- Labyrinth – Introspection and Surrender Ceremonies
- The Four Agreements – A Guide for Living by M. Ruiz
- ReVisions – Rewriting Our Self-Defeating Stories
- Songwriting – Collaborating with Words & Music
- Expressive Arts – Creating Journey Images
- Forest Therapy (Sylvotherapy) – Improving Connection
- Vision Walk & Vision Quest – Guidance & Awareness
Medicine Wheels & Labyrinths
In process groups, I have covered many topics including Cycle of Addiction, Grief and Loss, Shame Reduction, Spiritual Connection, Intro to 12-Step Programs and Other Resources, Triggers and Relapse Prevention Techniques, and more.
As a songwriter, I use a collaborative approach, to the benefit my students and clients. I was a volunteer with the Country Music Hall of Fame Words & Music Program for more than a decade, working with children, who were often expressing difficult feelings related to loss of parent, parent serving overseas, bullying, etc. With adult clients, the creative process would often result in songs written about the addiction, consequences experienced, gratitude, and hope for the future. As an artist, I lead expressive groups with various mediums, seeking to create images of what the client may not yet express in words. A common theme is the river as metaphor for where we came from, where we are now, and where we hope to be as we continue our journeys, often depicted in a single artistic rendering. Another is the creation of masks we have worn that protect us, allow us to fit in, and hide our authentic selves.
Tennessee’s ancestral landscapes provide the perfect setting for introspective activities. The natural world allows for passionate guidance, awe-inspiring moments, increased awareness, and unexpected surrenders and awakenings. I am always ready to support clients on diverse spiritual paths. I have facilitated Labyrinth and Medicine Wheel for more than twenty years. At times, I have traveled to other parts of the country to lead ceremonies and educate my peers.
Counselor, husband, artist, musician, humorist, poet, author, elder, teacher, student, dreamer, kindred spirit, ray of light, master gardener, woodsman, animal lover, human, and always a work in progress
“I am an artist
Sitting at my wheel
Turning what I’m dreaming
Into something that is real
I shape the life I’m living
With loving hands each day
I am both the potter
And the piece of clay”
– James Nihan
I have worked in the field of addictions in the Nashville area for twenty-five years. My personal recovery began in 1975 as a teen in the Boston area. In 1980, my story was featured in a book published by the Rutgers University Center of Alcohol Studies in New Jersey. I have experienced life in several geographic locations and in more than one adventurous career. As a songwriter, author and artist, I may utilize music, art, and creative writing. Tennessee’s ancestral landscapes provide the perfect setting for my passionate guidance, supporting clients on diverse spiritual paths.
I have provided services for a number of recovery organizations, supporting those negatively impacted by addiction, who were seeking to improve their lives, be it in early recovery, or to enhance quality of life during the continued journey. These include New Life Lodge, The Ranch, Integrative Life Center, and Onsite Workshops. I am a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. I was also an Associate Sex Addiction Therapist, assisting men in an inpatient program for several years.
I do not consider myself to be your typically encountered counselor. I am not afraid to step out of the box and support you intuitively and spontaneously. If you seek a therapeutic relationship with me, I believe that you wish to collaborate, and courageously change your life, beginning within, resolving those things that cause poor choices, resulting in chaos and personal suffering. My unique life experience allows for greater understanding and empathy, giving you the opportunity to be truly heard and supported.
Having spent many years working in the music business, I understand the unique challenges faced when personal struggles threaten to block one’s chosen path. I endorse improving one’s spiritual connection to the Creator and all creation. To this end, I have assisted a clientele that includes priests, rabbis, ministers, and other spiritual leaders, who have fallen from grace and/or lost faith. For twenty years, I have been a proponent of the bestselling book, The Four Agreements, and its teachings, as a way to examine one’s self-sabotaging inner-dialogue. I also enjoy using the power of metaphor and totems, medicine wheels, labyrinths, and nature, to encourage deeper introspection, inspire greater connectivity, and create a clearer understanding of self, life events, and of the surrounding world.
Supportive, healing music from James, includes the albums, Rays of Light, All Creation, Murals, and The Art of Letting Go.
“People find themselves moved by Nihan’s open-hearted lyrics and gentle, beautiful delivery.” – The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, Tennessee
“James’ music transcends barriers; it speaks to all of us.” – Register-Herald, West Virginia
“In the songs of James Nihan we enter a world of artistry. Here is a poet’s voice painting in sound and image a portrait of where love lives.” – Jean Pumphrey, Literary Director, The Marin Poetry Center
“Wonderfully inspiring!” – Lucas S Van Orden, MD, PhD, Psychiatrist and Addictionologist
“A beautiful tribute to the heart that opens in you.” – don Allan Hardman, Toltec Master
“James is a brilliant writer and his words are a source of strength for caregivers and mentors who endeavor to be mirrors in the lives of others.” – Yvonne Capps, LADAC – Program Director, Addictions Treatment
“Songs to live your life by.” – Thom Rutledge, Therapist, Author of Embracing Fear and Finding the Courage to Live Your Life
“Your words are cleansing, soulful, spiritual, and, obviously, come from the heart.” – Steven Adams, Life Recovery Pastoral Counseling
“His music brings joy to the soul and is the perfect music to grow and learn by.” – Sheri Rosenthal, DPM, Author of The Idiot’s Guide to Toltec Wisdom
Available through Amazon.com, YouTube, Spotify, and more. Some of the other music providers that have offered digital downloads of songs from The Art of Letting Go, Murals, All Creation and Rays of Light are: Apple iTunes, MusicNow, MusicNet, QTRnote, MSN Music, NextRadio, Tradebit, PassAlong, Rhapsody, NetMusic, BuyMusic, AudioLunchbox, Mouzika, WrapFactory, Emusic, Puretracks, Interia, MP3-Extension, MusicIsHere, MOD Systems, Choice Records, Inprodicon, Napster, Destra, Arvato, Verizon Wireless, Daiki, Chondo, MP3tunes, YooPeDoo, PayPlay, Bitmunk, DigitalKiosk, Liquid Digital Media, GreatIndieMusic, Sony Connect, PlayIndies, MPGreek, Ruckus, GroupieTunes, Muze, USEN and SNOCAP.
( Downloads are available here on Amazon.com – CDs can be ordered directly through James.)
