Paul Teerlinck
Hello everyone. I was born on a farm in southeastern Minnesota, the 4th of 5 children. I was mostly really unhappy as a child but I got a guitar at age 12 and my parents bought me guitar lessons for three years. I started writing songs almost immediately. But, being a depressed and angry young man my songs were very dark and had lots of negative themes (death, dying and torture of the soul). Not much joy there, I'm telling you. As I grew older and left the farm I discovered drugs and became quickly addicted. It took away all the pain! I quit playing for about 3 years in there somewhere; joined the army; got married and divorced and; finally got into recovery at age 29 in Florida. My song writing now had progressed from themes of total dispare to dysfunctional relationships. More unhappiness. I got married again; moved to Nashville Tn with the delusional notion that I was going to sell some songs. The truth is that I didn't know how to write songs very well and reality soon set in. I got another divorce; decided to quit playing altogether and; moved back to Florida. I said to myself that if God ever wanted me to play the guitar again he would let me know. I didn't play a lick for the next 11 years.
I forgot to mention that throughout all of this I managed to get a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. My primary source of income is through that endeavor.
Anyway. in1998 I discovered that my mother in Arizona was losing her memory (later discovering it was Alzheimers). I decided that I didn't just want to see her once a year till she moved on and I moved out here to Arizona.
I should also mention that my path in recovery has been a daily spiritual quest. Seeking God has been the basis of my life for a long time now and my search gives me a lot of peace and joy that I never experienced before in my life. I now study A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love as my primary focus in this search. I spent many years following an eastern path that focused on meditation and finding God through my deepest connection within.
When I got to Az I connected to a Course In Miracles group; which led me to a local Unity church (Interfaith Unity Church in Mesa); which led me to connect to a certain individual who happened to be in charge of getting music for the church. LO and BEHOLD we found some music that we liked and ended up doing a duet at church. I had a guitar back in my hands and LO and BEHOLD I started writing again. LO and BEHOLD the music was completely different than anything I had written before. Then, LO and BEHOLD, I got connected to a man at church who actually knew something about song writing and he helped me write songs in much more effective form than ever before. And LO and BEHOLD, a CD got born. Who would have ever figured. I have recently recorded 36 new songs with vocals and guitar. You can find all of these in the Music section of this site. I hope you enjoy them.
I continue to work as a counselor. Curently I'm working at Adobe Mountain School in Phoenix, Az. It's a prison for adolescent young men who have multiple arrests and/or violent or very serious charges. I am blessed to be able to continue to write and am looking forward to the opportunity to produce a second CD (God willing). I am now 53 and continue to be blessed with excellent health and spirits. I hope you are well and that your journey is leading you to greater inner peace and joy on a daily basis. With Love, Paul.