RIP David R. Dobson, PhD, 22 February 2008

I was fortunate to experience a Fun Shop that Dave provided to us at Nortel Networks back in the high-tech hey-days, and although those few days were my only face to face experience with Dave, I have never forgotten the grace and joy that were such a part of him.

His Beach Tape and  Housecleaning sessions are on my iPod as steady companions.

I knew he was ill, knew he would go, but somehow still feel that he is close. His life was, and remains, a blessing.

Warmest wishes of comfort for you, Barbara, and all who loved him.

Cynthia Nolan in Ottawa

Dave once told me we are measured more by how we deal with disagreeable situations than how we deal with the rest of life. I don't know what Dave did or how he did it, but I'll always remember what I learned from him...it's not the situations in life that make us who we are, but how we choose to respond to the situations. Everything is temporary.

I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to get to know him, and learn that he was human.

A beautiful pink tree is blossoming in my front yard. I noticed it for the first time yesterday right before I drove to Dave's memorial. Everytime I see the tree now, some wonderful thoughts are popping into my head that I choose not to share.

As Dave said, we're all entitled to our own private garden...

With respect, love and appreciation,
Kristin Mouk

"Hi'Ya," Dave...

Wanted to say...

"Tanks" for the powerful secrets U taught Galina and me...

'ya got us to "kick our pebbles" and challenge the perceptions of our world...
To use the power of jokes to find new meanings...

'ya got us to see how we live our daily live's in habits we've self hypnotized ourselves to...

And...

How the influence of facinating stories has the power to create meaning in our selves...

Yes, crafting stories was your forte...

And for me...
"Ur epitaph" is...
"reminds me of a story."

Yes...

'ya made us aware of OTC between ourselves and other people...

And...

Acknowledging the "OTC-hello" with those "creatures" helps getting in sync with them...

And...

The mystical phenomenon behind the Freudian Hoax between our conscious and other-than-conscious (OTC) self, and how wet he was...

Yes, Dave, U uncoverd great mysteries about the...
"Mystical Kingdom of Our Minds..."

...an unpublished book U worked most of your life on and yet...
it was published into all of us who got to know you.

Yes, U left indelible impressions for all of us to keep and use as we see best.

And...

Ur spot on with us!

Just wanted to say...

"Tanks"

And...

To acknowledge U for spending your time and "toughts" with us.

U R A Great Master...

Yes...U Still R
'cuz Ur alive inside of all U touched.

Yes, Ur teachings live and grow with us.

And...

U challenged us to continue in your stead at the last Fun Shop...
Amen, to the challenge.

'tanks, Dave, for beeeing here.

C 'ya, Jared & Galina

Oh, dear one, I am saddened to hear of the passing of your beloved Dave. I recall our conversation some years ago about your move to Friday Harbor...the logics of business and the illogics of love...or is it the other way around? I regret never having made it to your island...yet, feel as if I know the character and soul of such a man who pulled such a woman as you into his heart. What a divine gift to have found one another.

Love, Pat

I attended perhaps seven or eight Dave playshops. Once I found him who else was there to learn from? I have hundreds of Dave stories. He was a man who not only told great stories but inspired them as well. You have to remember his pet butterfly. A real one.
Or the time in a bar in Friday Harbor when he was overtly giving a student the finger while the student was meticulously explaining why he deserved OTCC certification and not noticing the finger. Dave practiced what he preached and preached plenty. If you ever meet someone with as many jokes as Dave had hang around them. You have met a very special person. He had an odd kind of sweetness like licorice or horehound. He contributed inordinately to any of us lucky enough to be touched by him. Perhaps they should change the name Friday Harbor to Dave's Harbor or English Camp to Davesville. Thanks Dave for your ongoing teaching.
Jerry Stocking
clustercalls.squarespace.com

In remembering Dave correctly, I made a major typo through my tears. Dave would start many sentences for his metaphor stories by saying, "Reminds me of a story...."

Dave was simply the most creative and best hypnotherapists ever.

All of us critters here on earth miss you Dave. Say hello to all the pet critters that are with you now. I miss your laugh and your smile.

Carole

Knowing Dave, aka: The Pebble Kicker and continually learning from him for the past 33 years, was a true gift to me and his work will continue to be a gift to many, many people.

He said many time and in many ways, 'The conscious mind is a gift of the Other Than Conscious'. He was a great Pebble Kicker in reminding me to appreciate and wonder how to creatively use my Other Than Conscious.

Some of his favorite words that made a real impact in my life and helped me be the person I am today are: "Wonder, Curious, Choices, Take a Deep Breath and put in the Clutch, Reminds Me of a Time.....and Let's Get Comfortable."

Here is a quote from Dave. "Over the years I have had fun with the way we organize words, and when I have been asked about "life" I have defined it as a "lease that we don't know when the lease expires". That comment seemed funnier forty years ago."

Dave's lease on life is up and I will be eternally grateful for having known him and touching and making a difference in my life. He was a kind and caring spirit and a big cuddly bear.

I love you and miss you Dave and as his golfing buddies used to call him, 'Dobby'.

Carole

Dave Dobson's voice lives in my head. I seldom hear the words curious or wonder, or take a deep breath and sigh without thinking of him. He has made a deep impact on my life, work and family.

I was in the first Funshop Dave ever conducted. It was in a room above a Chinese restaurant next to Friday Harbour House where Dave and his then-partner Carole lived at that time. Oh the magic of arriving on the ferry and looking up to see Dave standing in the Bay window looking for the next critter he would help to "get comfortable", grow up, sigh and hallucinate.

The brilliance of that first Funshop, the incredible people, and the fun of the Funshop created a connection with Dave that remained for all the rest of his life, and will remain in my spirit for all the rest of mine. Dave quite simply changed my life. Once, on a visit to Vancouver, he came to sit behind me, a fledgling psychic, when I was testing my talents at the Danish Tea Room on Robson Street. He sat behind me and listed to every reading. Fueled by endless cups of coffee, and hiding behind a newspaper, he critiqued not my psychic skills, but my communication skills after each client left. It was not easy, but I never forgot what I learned that day.

My son Blaise and I will be eternally grateful for the contribution he has made to our lives.

On the day that I heard of Dave's death, I had a vision of him arriving on the other side, full of wonder and curiosity, and joyfully exploring his new reality.

Cassandra & Blaise

I met Dave Dobson in the summer of 1986 at a Genie Laborde NLP workshop.

I knew from the moment I met him that there was something very special about the man - little did I know how special.

That day I started a conversation with Dave that has lasted nearly 22 years.

If you have never met Dave you might wonder what there was to t.a.l.k. about for so long. If so, order one of his back issue Funshops from Barb.

Might I suggest his "Reappreciation of the Phenomenon of Hypnosis" or his famous 1987 two week Funshop with video or his "Pain Alleviation" Funshop that Harlan put together or indeed any of the other Fun Shops he held. Put some headphones on and listen to it as if you were there - seriously! and day by day you will begin to experience your experience of living in a totally new and liberating way.

There is more to say ... much more but i'll save those thoughts for another day ... right now I miss my dear friend so much.

Thank you Dave,

I love you,

Cliff Saunders

I spent 7 days working with Dave 3 years ago. I still have very little idea what happened except that I came back different. Beneath all that crusty veneer was a profoundly compassionate man with a talent to get right to the HEART of things. I think of my time with Dave often - even the painful moments. One of the things I learned from him was how to observe without judgment.

I loved his wit and the breadth of his knowledge. He will be sadly missed.

And Dave, if you're listening! I made it! I's all growed up now...
Love to all who had the great fortune to work with this genius.
Graham Wiseman

Dave was my third grandfather. He was kind and loving beyond simple ties of blood. He showed me how to control my emotions, internal dialogue, and even sit up straight. Having been so close to Dave transformed me completely, before I traveled all the way to a little island to meet a grumpy old man I was a completely intolerable somnambule. Dave broadsided me with the hand of maturity and awareness and woke me up, he gave me a chance to live a happy and complete life. I owe him more than I could ever give. I will continually walk down the beach and will always remember to play at English Camp. Dave's memory will always bring a smile to my face and a twinkle to my eye, just a reflection of the stars that shone out of his. If he's in heaven I know he'll give 'em hell, if he reincarnated he will be the frog that lets bellows out in the middle of the night, that wash over us with comfort.

Remembering a Genius, With Love,

Mick

I have known David since his visit to Little Rock, Arkansas in, I believe, 1982. I have attended a few of Dave's Fun Shopps and have met many wonderful people as a result of knowing Dave. I have had many fun visits in his home - On one occasion he had me trave several (I do mean several) miles out of my way to purchase some items from the duty free shop at the Canadian border to bring to him when he was living on Victoria Island. Well I got to see some country I would not otherwise have seen and Dave got his "stuff".

I will miss this man dearly. I have learned much from him but much more than that I will miss this truly talented and good man who I felt I could call any time just to say hello and get an update on what was uh happening on the Island. He was a friend.

This is one piece of information that I knew would come but I still hate that he is gone.......

DAVE WILL BE MISSED BY MANY

Casey Jones
Hot Springs Arkansas
caseyltd2@yahoo.com

Dear Barbara,

My only experience with you was as a witness to one side of a phone conversation you and Dave were having while I was visiting your home 6 years ago.

Seems you were on a ferry boat coming home and judging by Dave's comments to you, I hallucinated that you were having a less than glorious day. Then the immortal words left his lips. Take a nice, deep breath, exhale slowly . . .

Words are a poor substitute for feelings but I hope the emptiness you are feeling is filled quickly with the healing life force that Dave taught us all about.

My life has been enriched beyond description by knowing Dave. I know his deep trust in you to keep those teachings alive is well placed.

With condolences and respect,
John Morgan

Barb, the world lost a great therapist and innovator, and you lost so much more. I'm very sorry.

Michael DeBusk

Barb's call telling me of Dave's passing hit me like a ton of bricks.

For years, I've been making that magical journey to Dave and Barb's house in Friday Harbor.

It became one of my favorite places largely because of the grouchy man with a heart of gold.

Years ago, I pulled Dave out of retirement and got him to start doing Fun Shops again.

What a magical journey! I feel like Dave has been responsible for many of the changes to occur in my life. Every minute with him was precious.

Can I summarize what I've gained from him over the years?

It would be impossible at this moment. There were so many things, so many teachings, so many anecdotes, so many jokes, and so many meaningful sighs.

Over the years I went from someone with a near terminal case of RCV to someone who actually did what Dave taught and OTCC became part of my life.

I miss Dave's laugh already.

Barb, my thoughts are with you at this time.

Dave's already said his OTC's to Saint Peter and probably skipped the line in heaven.

Peace.

Harlan Kilstein Ed.D.

Well, Dave was definitely correct. Life is a sexually transmitted disease. There are so many fantastic and wonderful "nickel drops" from experiencing the FUN SHOPS.
So in keeping it short. Dave, I know those" post cards and letters" will keep coming. I will always be deep diving into my OTC"s and, I will be curious to find out what I will find during those diving adventures.

LOVE YOU DAVE AND SAY HELLO TO GROUCHO!!!!!!

BARB, THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU. YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!!
LOVE, DREW
pr4nc@aol.com

I first heard about Dave at Barb's Simply Hypnosis workshop way back in some other millenium. Some of the people there said they might go way out to his place on some island to one of his seminars. I wondered if I ever would; it seemed so far away.

Never would I have guessed that I would have had the opportunity to be at his Fun Shop not once, but every year since 2001.
We knew his health was bad, and so every year he gave a Fun Shop was his last. We were trying to come up with a name for one of the CD sets, and I teased him: "Dave Dobson's 5th Annual Last Funshop Ever!"

And now he's given his last.

Each Fun Shop was a gift. Dave was a great man and a great mind. He taught me many things, how to be courteous to the other-than-conscious. How to treat people well. All the things we put names on, like crossfiling, but more importantly the opportunity to see it put in practice, to learn it other-than-consciously, the way he would have wanted.

It was always neat to see Dave giving a Fun Shop, sitting on the tall chair kicking his feet and smiling like a little boy waiting for his ice cream to be served. He really loved giving those Fun Shops! He was playful, but he could be tough if ya needed it. He taught us to outgrow the things that were no longer useful in our lives, and he taught us how to enjoy the world, wide-eyed and curious, like a kid finding out we could skip rocks over a placid bay, out in the world, in the water and the air and on the earth, down the hill from that great oak, right by the mountain covered with trees, down the road which is down the road which is down the street from the house on the hill, where we heard from some guy named Dobson, in some town named Friday Harbor, on some magical island named San Juan, were we went to once or many times from our homes and our lives where we are now.

I will miss him, and I am thankful for the opportunity I had to know him.