In his 2006 book, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World, author Paul H. Ray described cultural creatives as self-actualized individuals interested in spirituality and living in alignment with their core values. Their numbers increased by 2018 as indicated in the film The Revolution - Cultural Creatives (Tinyurl.com/The-R-evolution) which estimates that 200,000,000 people across the world had joined the movement with the numbers increasing annually by 1 percent per year. Ray notes that these individuals, working at creating a wiser and more sustainable culture, felt they were alone in their work to help raise consciousness. Natural Awakenings wants to let cultural creatives know they are not alone by highlighting the work of others in Southwest Florida that are also working to transform themselves and the world.

Meet Carol L. Roberts, M.D., TransformationalMedicine.net

How are things different since your awakening?

No one gets a “certificate of adulthood” to prove they are a grown-up. Awakening is like putting on your big girl pants and taking over your own life, seeing for the first time how you might fit into the bigger picture and do something meaningful with your time on Earth.

Who or what triggered your shift in consciousness?

Two illegal actions; one that I was forced to make if I wished to be the captain of my trajectory. I was in my sophomore year at Harvard (imagine what it took to get there for a girl from the Bronx with no connections, no money—only a strong drive and a pretty good brain). I found myself, stupidly, despite my best efforts, pregnant. Did what I needed to do without the help of my parents, who remained blissfully ignorant. My intro to adulthood.

The second was my first psychedelic experience: LSD in a tiny apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I was treated to an astronaut’s view of the world, seeing and hearing the thoughts of the tiny, insignificant ant-like humans down below. Each one of them thought he/she was the center of the universe. I thought them grandiose and absurd, and spent the next hour laughing at my species from above. Then it occurred to me that they were also pathetic, and I was one of them! I cried for them. I went back and forth, laughing and weeping, changing my view of this planet and its human dramas forever.

Lately, I’ve been wondering if indeed, they might be right? That what they are doing, the choices they make every minute of every day, do really matter in the big picture? What if?

Have you had any other significant epiphanies?

So many. Like the moment someone suggested I might become a doctor. I had never aspired to such a thing, but as soon as the words were uttered, I felt a punch to my gut, pow! I knew for sure it was the perfect right thing for me to do. Past-life memories? Probably. Listening to my body? For sure.

How has that affected the decisions you have made since then?

I want to help more people awaken. All ages are capable, no excuses there. That said, legally you must be over 18 to participate.

I currently am providing psychedelic journeys individually and in groups in your home or a private home with adequate preparation and supervision, and plenty of time to process. I believe this is one powerful tool to help people make the leap from our competitive, more or less barbaric species to the next iteration of human—more compassionate, less reactive, more cooperative, happier and more peaceful.

We have so much potential, each one of us, no matter our age, and awakening that potential in others is what I want to do from now on!

Carol L. Roberts, M.D., is the founder of Transformational Medicine. For more information, call 941-213-3005.