CURRENT MISSION

Live passionately and make it count

ABOUT ME

Well, my name is Bethany Dawn, and I like my name. I like lots of things. I like things that are delicate and beautiful. I like the sound of the wind in the trees, and the way a waterfall looks so smooth but is really so powerful. I like cats because they have attitudes. I like dogs because they're friendly. I like that I don't have any pets because I don't want that kind of responsibility.

I believe that life's purpose is self-improvement for the sake of self and in order to help others. I believe that everything affects everything in intricate ways. I believe most people who aren't 'interested in politics' just don't realize how politics affect everything. However, I'm guilty of not being informed enough either a lot of the time. I don't believe you have the right to complain if you don't try to make positive changes in your own life first. One of the things I have the hardest time putting up with is when people clearly don't consider others around them, or when people try to force their own way of seeing/doing things on another. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and we are not all the same, thank goodness! The world would be a much less interesting and remarkable place if we were.

I love positivity. I thrive on the ability to express my opinion and listen to others as well. I like quiet time and relaxation, and I also love being around others. I am a quiet person most of the time, but it isn't because I have nothing to say. At times I am also incredibly talkative, and to me a good conversation is the best form of entertainment.

"I am small but I am strong."

I usually try to be the nicest person that I can be. I like being healthy and I go back and forth from health nut to junk food addict. I love savoring good food, and I love cooking a meal that turns out really well. I love dairy products and fruit, and have recently truly come to understand what liking vegetables is all about. Yes, it did take 24 years. Oh well!

I could walk around in nature for hours and hours. I was raised to go camping, and I am addicted. My favorite place to be is driving or walking in a place right between the ocean and the forest, listening to good music. I am in no way an extremist, though I can usually respect those who are. I like peace and stability, but I also think it's nice to do things on the spur of the moment or just for the hell of it. My favorite colors are usually all the dark ones... deep purple, forest green, dark blue, and burgundy. However, I also absolutely love turquoise because it just pops out and catches your eye. I was born in April and I think it's the perfect month for a birthday.

I love to travel, learn new things, and meet friendly new people. Life is about the ride as much as the destination, and I think it's a shame when we only take the paved route. Who knows what you'll find if you veer off the beaten path from time to time, you know?

PHILOSOPHY

*Life is about self-improvement, which will hopefully also motivate others in order to affect the environment around us and help make some small but positive impact on the world at large.

*Even the ordinary is extraordinary. That's what living is all about.

*To live is the greatest adventure.

*Take notice. This moment is significant.

*Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out... shouting "Whoo, what a ride!!" -Unknown

*"The meeting of two personalities is like contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Jung

*In the long run, I think what seem like mistakes are really just nature's way of causing necessary change.

*"Be who you are and say what you feel. those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

*"Where the environment is unjust or prejudiced or cruel, it is a sign of merit to be out of harmony with it" - Bertrand Russell

*"Shared joy is double joy. Shared sorrow is half sorrow." - Swedish proverb

*“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” -- Epicurus

*"I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether." -Socrates

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I try to be welcoming and helpful to those who probably feel 'out of place' in a foreign environment, whether at a couchsurfing event, in a class, at a party, or otherwise in day to day life. I try to live with and promote the concept of paying it forward, as well as treating others how you would like to be treated. I think the impressions we have of a place are determined in large part by how welcomed we feel. I also feel that those experiences have an effect on the greater society long after we've left, by the impressions we have taken from and left with those with whom we interacted (or didn't) and also by how we will react to our own impressions of the experience later on in life. I participate by trying to act toward others in way that will leave them with a positive long-term impression of the time that we've spent together, while still maintaining a sense of self.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

meet-ups and events, surfed and hosted numerous times and places, random Corks and Canvas parties, meeting people for coffee or hanging out and wandering random cities/countries, been told "I don't know you yet and I'm not home, but the key is in the mailbox, help yourself," and various and sundry other adventures. Couchsurfing is a blast and truly and eye-opening experience.

Interests

I'm one of those people who knows a little bit about a lot of topics, and if you stumble upon the right one, I could possibly go on for days.
I'd say that currently cultural analysis is high on my list of interests, so anything that has to do with culture (this topic is even more broad than most people realize) will peak my interest.
I also love listening, observing, learning, and asking questions about things that I don't know. I tend to think that most any topic can be interesting, as long as it presented in a way that relates to the interests of the person with whom one is discussing it. Therefore it really all comes down to understanding the psychology of the person with whom you are interacting. Hence another reason I love analyzing - It's like learning the foundations of how to deal with any situation.
I love finding novelty within the mundane, and taking the time to savor the world around me. I love exploring, both physically/geographically and otherwise. I enjoy being active and going on walks/jogs/hikes etc; I enjoy just hanging out and having a cup of coffee or hot chocolate or watching a good movie or a silly youtube video. I enjoy reading, writing, and finding new ways of being creative, although I tend to lack initiative to stick with any one activity for too long because there are just so many others waiting for me! I guess I'm something in between the ultimate multi-tasker and someone with a short attention span. However, on the flip side, I have moods where all I want to do is focus focus focus.
I guess you just never know with me! Let's just go with "I'm probably interested."

• pets
• cats
• dogs
• culture
• writing
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• coffee
• running
• walking
• partying
• politics
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• camping
• teaching
• psychology
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Oh, I don't know! I like movies that make you think, even later after the movie is no longer new - movies that leave a strong impression. Woody Allen films, for example. I like movies with great acting, that can take you in and create a world around you without you realizing that it's happened... The Butterfly Effect, Donnie Darko, White Oleander, The Departed, Atonement, Girl Interrupted, Closer, Cold Mountain, The Others, Forest Gump, Ladder 49, The Last King of Scotland, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Legends of the Fall, The Truman Show, The Life of David Gale, Little Women, The Mothman Prophecies, Finding Forrester, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Good Will Hunting, The Pursuit of Happyness, What Dreams May Come, and many, many more.
Music:Most types for at least a short time... I just love the sound of music (the actual sound of music, not referring to the movie :P), and I especially love good lyrics... But lets not only look at traditional sounds, people! What about the wind in the trees or a bird singing next to a flowing stream? This is wonderful music to embrace as well.
Books: The entire Harry Potter series (!), especially the last two books, by J.K. Rowling; In the Country of the Young by Lisa Carey; Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier; books by Alexander Dumas (especially The Count of Monte-Cristo!); Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; stories involving Merlin or King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; books by Mary Stewart; Hatchet by Gary Paulsen; The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien; the entire Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll; Little women by Louisa May Alcott; The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl; the Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle; The Giver by Lois Lowry; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence; the Jungle by Upton Sinclair; For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, and many more that I will add as they come to me!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

*Traveled western Europe for 2 months with a bus load of people and learned that's it's possible to get along with about 96% of the people you're put into a situation with, as long as you are allowed the opportunity to get to know them more personally.
*Taught high school for a year. Learned that teachers don't get nearly enough credit for all the work they do most of the time, and also learned that students are often not nearly as understood as they need to be in order to reach them enough to learn. That's probably the hardest part about a teacher's job... Having the patience and the passion to get through to the students in order to inspire them.
*Cross-country road trips. Yep, now I'm addicted.

Teach, Learn, Share

*I have a basic understanding of computers, so if you'd describe yourself as computer illiterate I can probably help you out a bit.
*I can teach you French, even if acquiring a language is a constant journey for all of us.
*If I understand a concept, I'm usually better at explaining it to a beginner than most of the people around me are because I'm very patient... i.e. I can teach.
*I can teach you English, and I can very likely help you with grammar and word flow/usage when writing in English either as a native or second language.
*Here's the thing: One of my biggest fears is disappointing people. This includes but is not limited to saying that I can help or teach you something, only to find out that I'm not as knowledgeable as I need to be. I am very balanced and have a passion for (or at least facility with) most subjects. I am often not an expert because of this, but I can usually tell you a little bit about a great many different things. But never ask me how to make a tv work with a vcr, dvd player, and a remote. I will have a tantrum on you right then and there, it's a promise.
Maybe someone can explain that to me with baby steps!
I would also like to learn about computer programming (rather than just operating), someday I want to learn to play the guitar, and if you know how to do/explain anything else, I would love to learn about it. I want to be a student forever, it's so fun to learn!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Switzerland, United States

•