CURRENT MISSION

To discover my true name. To figure out what I want from life and to have the guts to pursue it.

ABOUT ME

I'm a little bit of a lot. I love the outdoors, being outdoors, and being active outdoors. I love to hike and bike and walk my dog and trail run and ride horses. I also love reading, snuggling my cat, playing piano, journaling, and cooking. Oh, and strength training and yoga and racquetball. I recently took up Krav Maga. I am extremely introspective and hyper self-aware, which leads to an intense interest in spirituality, social psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. I like challenges. I find people fascinating.

PHILOSOPHY

I think that what I am longing for the most in life is authentic connection. To be seen, understood and acknowledged for all of me, and to see, understand, and acknowledge as much as I can in you. I think that if I look deeply enough, I will see that there is no other. Due to various tragic experiences, I jumped on the cliche band wagon of realizing how short and fickle life can be, and I fear how swiftly it passes. So, I want to invite myself and others to risk being real. And, I want to learn to be as calm and kind as possible, to be incredibly strong physically and mentally, but ever so gentle. I believe in looking for the goodness in others.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I mostly participate by hosting people here in Denver, though I finally couch surfed in Scotland and Wales last summer. I look forward to talking to and learning from others as well as learning about wherever they are from. So far, we have hosted people from Germany, Russia, France, Vietnam, Israel, Czech Republic, Canada, England, and the U.S.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Please know that I receive A LOT of requests--typically 7 - 10 per day, and responding to all of them takes up quite a chunk of time. So, before you send me a request, here are a few things to consider to save your fingers and mine from doing extra work.
-I prefer not to host people who have 0 references.
-I prefer not to host last minute. (A week in advance at least.)
-I prefer not to host someone who does not have specific dates in their request.
-I prefer not to host people with whom I share nothing in common.
-I prefer not to host people who have even a remote possibility of being a no-show.
If none of the above describe you, please send me a detailed request about why you would like to surf on my couch, and I will get back to you.

Interests

Horses. Cognitive neuroscience. Weight lifting. Meditation. Teaching. Learning. Cooking. People. Folk music. Photography. Spirituality.Mathematics. Literature. Myself. Biking. Yoga. Goats. Piano. Fermenting. Racquetball. Nature.Sustainable lifestyles. Writing.Hiking.

• cats
• dogs
• horses
• writing
• books
• literature
• photography
• beauty
• festivals
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• running
• meditation
• reading
• music
• folk music
• piano
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• racquetball
• teaching
• mathematics
• neuroscience
• nursing
• psychology
• krav maga

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: "Anger" and "Old Path, White Clouds", and pretty much anything else by Thich Nhat Hahn. "East of Eden" by Steinbeck. "The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard. "The BFG" and anything else by Roald Dahl. "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. "REAMDE" and anything else by Neal Stephenson. "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. "Lord of the Rings", "Eragon", and other fantasy involving magic, dragons, elves, etc. "Centered Riding" by Sally Swift. "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. "Markings" by Dag Hammerskjold. "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle.
Movies: I don't watch that many... or any TV, but I do love "The Princess Bride"; "Shrek"; "Calendar Girls"; "Brave"; lots of Pixar; "Chocolat"; "Amelie";
"Seabiscuit" (as well as the book)...
Music: Hmmmm.... I love acoustic and folk sorts of music, Celtic, contemporary piano, classical... I'll always love Simon and Garfunkle. I listen to country when I drive.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I watched our mare give birth to a foal. Dash was five weeks premature. He could not stand or nurse on his own. I held him right after he was born. For four straight days, my family members and I averaged 2 hours of sleep per day while we held and nursed him. He become ill on the third day and died in my arms on the fourth day, still trying to nurse on my shirt. Our barn community pulled together to bring us meals, stay up with us all night long, sleep with us on the concrete floor in the hall of the barn, and hold us and cry with us when he died. Dash was the most precious thing I have ever seen or touched.

Teach, Learn, Share

I used to help run a cafe, so I'm fairly creative in the kitchen. I can teach a few styles of meditation. As a professor of mathematics, I guess I should mention mathematics and mathematical sciences as subjects I can help people learn... I want to learn to play the cello and speak Italian.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Laughter. I'll give you a good listening to. Silly stories. I'm a decent cook and great at doing the dishes.