Vantage Quest

Creating always makes me tick.  I've been called Kansas, "Cosmic", and of course Carlisle. Whether it was the first song that I wrote when I was about four, building straw forts in a hayloft, or getting a poem in the paper in grade school, somewhere along the line I got hooked on creating.  Later, as I started to take it seriously, I made my way onto the stage, first as an actor, and then performing the songs I wrote.  I was lucky, no matter if I made a big splash or had to learn to swim out of dangerous waters, I was paid to do what so many people wanted to do and I had fun at it.  I jumped in with both feet writing songs all day and playing music all night.  I was always surprised when people thought I should get a “real job.”  I’ve had plenty of those but the most “Real” thing I know is the connection I feel when I’m creating something.  When we shut-up and listen, we co-create with the Divine.  It’s really the only thing happening here on this little blue marble and, like G. I. Gurdjieff, I’ve had many meetings with remarkable men (and women).  Along the way I studied music and drama at Univ. of So. Cal and earned a B.S. in biology from Kansas Wesleyan Univ.   Then, when my first album was ready for release, the worst happened – Disco – and overnight I was a country-rock dinosaur.  During my readjustment to “real” life, I started creating landscape environments – still fun – and reading a lot.  I had been studying psychology, metaphysics, and esoteric texts for years to understand a number of unusual experiences so…I decided to take that seriously and went back to graduate school.  I received an M.A. from John F. Kennedy Univ. in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and I continued Doctoral studies at Saybrook Institute.  Then the best happened!  Music, psychology, mysticism, and academia all came together when my doctoral research led to creating Vantage Quest.  Now I am a licensed clinical mental health therapist specializing in transpersonal psychology and privileged to help others re-create their lives.  As you know if you're reading this, I am also an author, and producer of some unique CDs.  Through it all, I’m still creating.  Hope you come along for the ride.

Carlisle Bergquist