CURRENT MISSION

**Loving kindness!**

ABOUT ME

Meditation, peacebuilding, and nature are my biggest passions. I value honesty and sincerity very highly. My background is in community building, community organizing, public radio, and religious studies.

PHILOSOPHY

I practice meditation and yoga to work on my mindfulness and awareness, to be more open and accepting of others, and learn to treat everyone with compassion and kindness.

I think it's important to be yourself and do what's right for you, not what other people think you should do. And it's worth taking risks for true happiness. All we have for certain is this moment!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We host couchsurfers at our apartment. I've also surfed with other hosts.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've met a ton of great people from all over the world! We've hosted people from one night to two months, and it's a really great experience getting to know people from other places. :)

Interests

I love walking long distances, going on adventures, exploring new places and cultures. Dogs are my favorite! I also love cooking for groups. I make a mean pizza from scratch.

I'm always up for an adventure. Experimental musical about the South Pole with people on stilts? I'm there. Driving for three hours to try and catch the aurora borealis? Totally there!

Also, I love folk music from every tradition. Hungarian might be my favorite so far... would love to hear more music from other places.

• animals
• dogs
• insects
• arts
• humanities
• folklore
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• meditation
• walking
• traveling
• music
• folk music
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Me and You and Everyone We Know, The Royal Tenenbaums. Encounters at the End of the World.

Music:
Honestly, I like everything from electronic music to old-time country music. Been on a Motown kick. I recently went to a presentation of Armenian, Greek and Arabic music recorded by recent immigrants to the United States in the 1910's and 20's. Super interesting!

Books:
In Watermelon Sugar, Richard Brautigan. Orlando, Virgina Woolf. The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey. Nonsense Botany, Edward Lear. Franny and Zoey, J.D. Salinger. No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July. James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl. That Which You Seek Is Causing You To Seek, Cheri Huber. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown, J.Z. Smith. What Maisie Knew, Henry James. Heyday, Kurt Andersen. The Shrinking of Treehorn, Florence Parry Heide.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Once, while traveling in the rain forest in Costa Rica, I walked down a dirt road with no lights or electricity anywhere in the middle of the night with a good friend of mine. The forest sounded so alive -- the trees groaning in the wind, insects and animals in the trees. Very memorable.

I saw Joanna Newsom play a concert in an outdoor courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, on a beautiful summer night, with the stars shining, where the audience sat in the grass and she played music on her harp right before us. I looked around and saw many people crying. It was really beautiful.

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a peregrine falcon sitting up in the guide wires. They're an endangered species here, and were reintroduced to urban areas in the last 50 years by hardworking people who kept them from going extinct. It was so cool to see the success of their work!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how do to do basic audio editing, or how to make pizza dough from scratch!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Food
Cooking
Stories
Tarot card readings
Buddhist philosophy
Folk music
Musical saw lessons
Fishing lessons

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States