CURRENT MISSION

To make a difference that makes a difference

ABOUT ME

I enjoy thinking about how people develop, and how people can get unstuck and thrive- individually and collectively.

Now I work as a transformational coach in NYC.

In the past I have lived in San Francisco where I took care of a quadriplegic part time while I developed as a coach.

Before that I lived with a mentor in Canada for six months where I spent a lot of time meditating and doing emotional intelligence training with horses. The horses were the "teachers" of how to emotionally connect with yourself and others.

Before that I immersed myself in various personal growth courses and went to Ecuador to visit an indigenous tribe (this is where I met the Canadian mentor).... Before that I lost a lot of money in the stock market. Before that I day traded futures, started and sold a local produce (farmer's market-like) company in Seattle, and lived for long expanses of time on the road staying at retreat centers and generous people's houses.

PHILOSOPHY

"A grieving father named Robert S. Marcus — then-Political Director of the World Jewish Congress — was the recipient of the following letter of condolence in 1950, not long after his son succumbed to polio.

'Dear Mr. Marcus:

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish the delusion but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.

With my best wishes,
sincerely yours,

Albert Einstein.'"

(Source: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/11/delusion.html)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

During and after college I house for weeks at a time, slept on a piece of plywood in a random artist's trailer who I met in Santa Fe (plywood is surprisingly uncomfortable), and lived on an air mattress at a professors house for fours months. I also took a 28 day road trip around the US sleeping in the back of a Ford Focus with a friend.

More recently I've enjoyed staying with a family in Fort Bragg, CA on two separate road trips with my parents.

Interests

Table tennis, board games, invented games, meditation, personal growth.

Understanding how and why people change. Remembering that I'm alive.

• horses
• arts
• burningman
• education
• cooking
• meditation
• walking
• board games
• traveling
• hiking
• volleyball
• table tennis
• teaching
• parks
• exploring
• ping pong
• coaching
• burning man

Music, Movies, and Books

Mostly comedies or thought-provoking movies.

I don't listen to much music, though I enjoy most of it.

Books I've enjoyed over the years include... Name of the Wind, Ender's Game, Dune, The Power of Now, The Book of EST, A Thousand Names for Joy. Oh, and Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Played volleyball with an indigenous culture (the Achuar) deep in the Amazon rain forest... also participated in two shamanic ceremonies with Ecuadorian indigenous peoples.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a handy woodworker, am proficient with MS Excel, and enjoy cooking.

I'm also available as a listener, which is what I do for work at ericlanigan.com and clearlymotivated.com.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Greece, New Zealand, Scotland, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States