Love over fear.

WHERE I AM:

I currently live in a small Amazigh (Berber) village in the mid-Atlas region of Morocco. I will be here until December 2018, volunteering with a women's association and local youth through the Peace Corps.

WHERE I WAS:

Before I moved here, I lived and worked in Denver. I loved my job, but the hours were tiring and I felt the education community cared more about politics than children. More than that, I knew my real passion didn't involve educational policy, but international travel, sharing of experiences, and finding opportunities to marry diversity, spirituality, social justice, and love.

I AM:

I write about experiences and love and spirit. I stay up too late contemplating the nature of life and stars and whether my impact has any matter or if we're all just brief blips in the universes' EKG. I love admiring old buildings and touching old objects - the weight of their history speaks to the hope of the future. I doodle and I dream of a world of upliftment, unity, and color. If this makes an artist, then art is my passion.

I love the outdoors. The cooling rain which signals rebirth. The scorching sun that warms my soul and blackens my skin. The deep colors that dance in the wind. And a mug of hot coco and a even hotter fire as I watch the heavy drifts of snow. I curl up with a book during the ice months and explore the mountains and rivers, forests and beaches when the sun returns.

I am a spiritual warrior. Set back from previous anxieties, I respond with daily meditation, prayer, heart-opening asanas, and pranayama breathing. I embrace all religions and creeds that radiate love and always look for new spiritual experiences and understanding individuals path towards spirit or god or reality or gaia or science. For me, it is not "or" but "and". All paths are true and I am happy to hear yours.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think that shared experiences is what heals divisions. The rapid increase in globalization has only highlighted the deep divides in the world. I like to meet like-minded people and people with views drastically divergent from mine in order to gain greater perspectives about myself and the world around us.

Interests

Writing stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, they are all true.
Reading.
Nature.
Traveling.
Studying and experiencing religions.
Meditation.
Yoga.
New foods.
New thought.
Youth Empowerment.
Gender and Development.
Photography.

• writing
• architecture
• beauty
• education
• cooking
• yoga
• meditation
• reading
• volunteer work
• cultural studies
• religion
• solo travel
• mountains
• spirituality
• ocean
• deep conversations
• local history
• positive thinking
• intercultural exchange
• international food

Music, Movies, and Books

I like music, movies, and books that speak to me. Sometimes they may pull at my soul, other times they just may make me laugh. There is music that brings out different sides of me and most books I read challenge me to re-examine my preconceived notions. For the most part, I prefer movies on the big screen to be a visual masterpiece and movies I watch at home to give me a short respite from life.

I love to read:

-Paulo Coelho: my two favorites are Eleven Minutes and Manuscript found in Accra, but I also love the Alchmist, Veronika Decides to Die, The Witch of Portobello, basically his entire library.

-The entire Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card

-To Kill a Mockingbird

-I was and still am a big Potterhead

-Basically any book with a dystopian theme. I also enjoy writing them.

-Sci-fi and Fantasy books where the main focus is the expansion of the human mind and soul (i.e. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell)

-Anything by Neil Gaiman

-I have a guilty pleasure of still loving YA books. Mostly of the speculative fiction brand. And Meg Cabot. When I was a teenager, I wrote Mediator series fan fiction, so was super excited when she published a new book in that series last year.

-I'm also very interested in inter-faith work and studying religious traditions, motifs, and myths. Anything by Joseph Campbell, Karen Armstrong, and Huston Smith. I'm also becoming partial to Reza Aslan's work.

TV Shows:
-Master of None
-Humans (UK version)
-The Americans
-Atlanta
-Game of Thrones
-Sherlock (BBC)
-Downton Abbey
- Joss Whedon - Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly
- Bryan Fuller - Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls
-Gilmore Girls (no shame)
-Community, Parks and Rec, The Office, Veep, Silicon Valley

Movies and Music:
-A very varied taste

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The ability to travel is truly the most amazing privilege. Most of my family members have barely stepped outside of their home state, much less the country, so to have the means to travel - particularly as a woman of color - is a wonderful honor and responsibility. Knowing that: when I come home, I always share little bits of my soul with family and friends so that they can glimpse the world through me.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: English discussions to help improve your speaking skills. Practicing mindfulness. A little how to read tarot.
Learn: I'm trying to obtain high conversational skills in Moroccan Arabic and would also like to know the basic phrases of places I visit. I love to hear about local cultures and flavors of a town. I also can't dance - but that may be a helpless case at this point.
Share: Let's do an early morning yoga and meditation sess. I can make some Berber whiskey (also known as mint tea), if you have some good cooking skills to share.

Countries I’ve Visited

Indonesia, Italy

Countries I’ve Lived In

Morocco, United States