LouLife

A session with Don Vowels takes place in a room of plush furniture and soft earth-tones whose most appealing parts are its flaws. The walls have been stripped to their original 19th-century plaster, cracked and discolored over the years. For Vowels, the walls are symbolic of the people he helps. “These walls are showing their raw beauty,” he says, “just as underneath our scars and wounds we are all beautiful.” His peaceful voice and amenable attitude inspire trust immediately, indispensable when leading people on a path to spiritual healing.

The 54-year-old has spent the better part of his life on his own spiritual journey, beginning with his roots as one of nine children in a staunchly Roman Catholic family from Meade County. After a year at the University of Kentucky, Vowels moved to Louisville, working various jobs and partying, until his mother died when he was 26. The death rocked him and sent him on an exploration of religions and philosophies, ending with his entrance to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1987 and returned to Louisville, but wasn’t attracted to parish ministry. “I always knew that individual spiritual direction, counseling and hospital work were more my calling,” Vowels says.

Spending time in various counseling positions at local hospitals and wellness centers put him in constant contact with doctors and patients. In 1996 he left the priesthood, and in 1997 completed his master’s in social work at the University of Louisville. Cancer counseling, along with guidance in other illnesses and trauma, has been an integral part of his practice, but he opens his doors to any manner of spiritual or emotional crisis, without an emphasis on religion. “My approach has always been from a spiritual perspective, not a religious perspective,” he explains. “My role is to help people uncover and discover who God really is for them by getting to know themselves first.”

Out of the cancer support groups he began almost 20 years ago came the inspiration for a CD released earlier this year. The Quiet is a guided meditation with Vowels’ soothing voice coaxing a calming, healing inner peace. It’s available at several locations, including Edenside Gallery and through www.thequietcd.com.