About Scott Zarcinas
Author, Speaker and Wayfarer
I’m Dr Scott Zarcinas, also known as DoctorZed. I’m an Adelaide-based author, speaker and publisher with a background in medicine and a lifelong interest in what it means to live fully. Through my books, writing and speaking, I explore finding and living our calling, and the joy, fulfilment and freedom of giving expression to who we are.
I describe myself as a Wayfarer because my understanding continues to develop through experience, reflection and participation in life. The questions I explore in my work are questions I have lived myself: Who am I? What am I here to give? How do I want to spend the life available to me?
My Calling Is Writing
I knew at school that I wanted to be a writer. I loved books, immersed myself in stories, and wanted to create stories of my own. When I was accepted into medical school, however, I followed the opportunity before me and began a career in medicine.
I graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1993 and worked as a doctor in Australia and the United Kingdom. Throughout those years, the desire to write remained. Eventually, a vision of my death fifty years in the future brought the question of how I was living into sharper focus. The books I wanted to write needed my attention in the life I was living now.
Writing became my way of exploring human experience, imagination and the questions that had occupied me for years. It remains the work I feel called to do; a way of giving expression to what I discover and sharing something of myself with others.
Stories, Ideas and Self-Discovery
My books span fiction and non-fiction, including Samantha Honeycomb, The Golden Chalice, DeVille’s Contract, Your Natural State of Being and The Flea Circus. Across these different forms, I return to identity, freedom, purpose and the beliefs that shape our experience.
Fiction allows me to explore these questions through characters and their choices, their relationships, their adventures and discoveries. My non-fiction addresses them more directly, drawing on observation, personal experience and reflection. Both begin with curiosity about people and the lives we live.
In 2006, I founded DoctorZed Publishing, guided by the values of goodness, truth and beauty. Publishing has also allowed me to work with other authors and help bring their stories and ideas to readers.
The Philosophy Behind My Work
I believe finding and living our calling allows our natural state of being to find expression. Our gifts, interests and desire to contribute become ways of participating meaningfully in life; through that participation, we experience joy, fulfilment and freedom.
My exploration draws on my medical background, spiritual enquiry and lived experience. I am interested in how our understanding of ourselves influences the choices we make, what we give our attention to, and how freely we express what matters to us.
These ideas continue to develop through my writing and through the conversations that arise around it. I describe my approach as the Living Path: Recognise, Rest and Reflect; recognising what shapes our experience, resting in our natural state of being, and reflecting its qualities through how we live.
Speaking and Sharing Ideas
Since 2008, I have shared my work through talks, seminars and workshops. Speaking gives me the opportunity to bring ideas into conversation with an audience, connecting reflection with experiences people recognise in their own lives.
My topics include calling and purpose, self-awareness, limiting beliefs, personal effectiveness, and living with greater joy, fulfilment and freedom. I also draw on my experience as an author and publisher when speaking about writing, creativity and bringing ideas into the world.
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Continue Exploring
You can discover my work through my books and essays, receive updates about new writing and events, or get in touch about a speaking enquiry. If you are seeking personal guidance at a crossroads, my coaching work is available through Unlocking Your Life.