Summer is here and my heart is unfolding. I want to keep the line when it comes to the work I find worthwhile while finding the supple balance to truly celebrate the beauty in life.

Nurture and be nurtured.

+ + +

"Not everything was lost in the flow of time. We truly believed in something back then, and we knew we were the kind of people capable of believing in something--with all our hearts. And that kind of hope will never simply vanish."

- excerpt from Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, Haruki Murakami

PHILOSOPHY

A work in process. Snippets from others' eyes:

"You had to learn to see man as a weak, selfish, and cowardly creature; you also had to realize how many of these evil traits and impulses you shared yourself; and nevertheless you allowed yourself to believe, and nourished your soul on the faith, that man is also spirit and love, that something dwells in him which is at variance with this instincts and longs to refine them."
- Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

+ + +

"to holding on, to knowing again that moment of rapture, of recognition where we can face one another as we really are, stripped of artifice and pretense, naked and not ashamed."
-bell hooks

+ + +

"The nature of things is human experience. To be human, by definition, is to live in contradiction, in struggle, in conflict, in limitations; but so long as you are alive, we cannot afford to give up on what we can do about them." - Abdullahi An-Na'im

+ + +

"...it's hard to be angry when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes, I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and I can't take it. My heart swells up like a balloon that's about to burst. But then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold onto it. And then, it flows through me like rain and I feel nothing but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."
- American Beauty

+ + +

"if strangers meet"

if strangers meet
life begins-
not poor not rich
(only aware)
kind neither
nor cruel
(only complete)
i not not you
not possible;
only truthful
-truthfully, once
if strangers(who
deep our most are
selves)touch:
forever

(and so to dark)

- e.e. cummings

+ + +

"To work with things is not hubris
when building the association beyond words;
denser and denser the pattern becomes--
being carried along is not enough.

Take your well-disciplined strengths
and stretch them between two
opposing poles. Because inside human beings
is where God learns."

- Rainer Maria Rilke, (excerpt) trans. Robert Bly
from The Uncollected and Occasional Poems (1914-1926)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on Couchsurfing because I believe in its philosophy and have had wonderful experiences through it. I took a brief hiatus but I'm ready to re-discover the CS community and share what I can!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The first time I ever heard of couchsurfing was the summer of 2008. My friend Alex and I traipsed around Argentina, and couchsurfed in Mar del Plata and Córdoba.
- Hosted surfers in Eugene, OR (summer 2009).
- Surfed in Japan (Sept. 2010).

And the list will grow because this is all wonderful.

Interests

Shooting the shit, learning, poetry, politics, discovering small and large truths, silliness, dancing, dabbling in others' passions.

"We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting."
- Kahlil Gibran, "Sand and Foam"

• poetry
• photography
• beauty
• dancing
• politics
• hunting

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Traveled around Japan solo. At the time, it was lovely and nerve-wracking and exciting and adventurous. Only years after do I begin to appreciate how that experience has contributed profoundly to the person I am and am to become.

Teach, Learn, Share

Yes! So much to teach, learn, and share.

Currently, I'm messing around in the darkroom with manual photography and developing. It's piqued my interest and I'd love to explore it and learn from others, as well as share what I can.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Japan, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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