CURRENT MISSION

healing! helping me & those i love be healthy, happy, alive. bringing play back into life.

ABOUT ME

In the past two years or so I think I've grown/matured incredibly... it never ceases to amaze me, how much one can change year by year, month by month... I who am always seeking the transformative and the transcendental, I seem to be getting what I ask for, but never quite in the form that I expect it.

In Thailand, I got lost, felt alone, turned into an old man for quite some time... low energy, I thought my life was ending. But I emerged from that calmer and more reflective, having known what it was like to have to calculate your every step, with ten seconds between each, and having spent quite a bit of time in the company of monks, or admiring the gentle smiles on so many children, old men and women (so many old people there), and everybody in between, or exchanging massages with masseuses when I really wanted to learned but had no money to pay for school or to get a massage. (Can you imagine doing that in the US? Walking into a massage parlor and saying to the therapist, "I'll trade you a massage," and having them laugh and respond "why not?")

A sense of urgency still inhabits me from time to time, but I have learned (and still am, this is perhaps my life's work) to use it to my advantage, rather than let it consume me. Now, I let it motivate my art, rather than my every action. If you'd met me four years ago, you probably would have said I was "off the wall." Now, you might actually describe me as soft-spoken, depending on when you met me.

I still love to dance as much as I ever have, although I never feel like I'm dancing enough... I don't know if I'll ever know that feeling.

I welcome every guest into my house... both literally and in the Rumi sense (see the poem below). I might not invite anyone to stay the night, because I have, after some trial and quite a bit of error, finally learned to set some boundaries, but I do my best (generally it's not that hard for me, but sometimes it is) to see the beauty in everyone, to meet them where they're at, and to give of myself to whomever asks. (Have you ever heard Simon & Garfunkel's "Song for the Asking"?) & yet, I am, at the moment, still learning to give myself what I need... which living on the bus is giving me many opportunities for.

I'm always grateful for my shelter, and this one (the bus) is a very special one indeed. Caring for plants and kombucha has given me a lot of satisfaction; so has keeping the space neat; and feeding and tutoring my relationship with David, my busmate, whom I've known and been close to for a very long time.

PHILOSOPHY

"This sky we live in
Is no place to lose your wings
So love, love, love!" -Hafiz

A few days ago I actually decided to see what it was like to forget about love completely and see what life would be like without this idea, which has been so paramount to my life for so long. The moment I tried on the thought, the sky actually opened up and everything got lighter, easier. But continually forgetting about love might require even more effort!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been incredibly grateful to all the people who've hosted me & helped me, and learned a lot about being a guest. Every time I've left a place, I've want to get a home JUST so that I could host people in it & repay (or rather, forward) some of the kindness that I've experienced--now the dream has come true!

Interests

Have you heard of Contact Improvisation?

Art, when it's real, is my favorite thing, i think. Recently i've been reading hakim bey's "immediatism" manifesto:
"Real art is play, & play is one of the most immediate of all experiences. (...)
we are repelled by the extreme alienation of the arts, especially in "the media," in commercial publishing & galleries, in the recording "industry," etc. (...) We miss the directness of play (our original kick in doing art in the first place); we miss smell, taste, touch, the feel of bodies in motion."
I'm travelling w/ that book at the moment, so if we meet, we can read it--& apply its ideas!--together, if you wish.

• arts
• books
• beauty
• dancing
• walking
• reading
• traveling
• communications

Music, Movies, and Books

waking life. documentaries.

hakim bey.
everything absurd & delightful: hitchiker's guide to the galaxy, alice in wonderland....
alan watts.
orsonscottcard's good.
prevert.
baudelaire.
sometimes rimbaud.
derrick jensen, haven't decided.
what i write & make, i like, generally.

godspeed you! black emperor
do make say think
tortoise
mogwai
all those bands on the constellation label & related post-rock musical projects
my friends' music
anything less obscure?
the beatles!
led zeppelin
john coltrane
bob dylan
indian sitar & tabla music
javanese gamelan music
ugh... this seems so restrictive. i like most music that's heartfelt & somewhat unique.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

oh my...

if you'd like, that can be the first question i answer when we meet.

Teach, Learn, Share

I DO! i have taught dance to people all ages across the Untied States and a little bit in France and in Thailand, semi-formally. I taught Contact Improvisation (if you don't know what it is, please allow me to share it with you, it is an amazing universe) for one year in college, and a few aerial silks workshops in Michigan, and then a lot of informal workshops, such as at Rainbow Gathering. Generally, I really enjoy sharing ANYTHING that i know with anybody who is interested. In fact I love teaching; it makes me feel at place in the world.

I love learning also, and I'm avid for knowledge of any kind. I believe that each person has some very unique knowledge/skills (knowledge connotates mind, doesn't it?) to share with the rest of the world, and maybe even specifically with me! So I try to learn from everybody that I meet.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, United States

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