CURRENT MISSION

Travel around the world and return to see home with new eyes

ABOUT ME

I'm exploring the world in search of my purpose. I got a taste of purpose, once. As I get older, I realize more and more the importance of people, of real connections and relationships. It's about what I can give or effect. I have a holistic, wide way of seeing things, and I want to widen my vision.

PHILOSOPHY

Everybody does things for a reason. There is thought, perhaps subconscious, behind every action, no matter how strange or incomprehensible it may seem. Understanding that thought, that reason, that other person, putting aside fear or judgment, builds a rapport through which the most meaningful connections are made. In other words: We all have our own "reality tunnels", and the tools to understand others' realities, if we allow ourselves to and work hard at it.

I believe that at the deepest level, we don't (as a species) have a choice but to live; humanity is like an incomprehensibly complex plant "growing" on this planet. Our emotions (and other kinds of wisdom) will guide us; we can grant ourselves experiences via engagement with the world but we cannot choose whom or what we fall in love with, or where we find our true purpose.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have not surfed yet, "officially". That is about to change...

Interests

- art (drawing, painting, viewing): I create complicated abstract designs.
- music (composing): on the computer, or piano
- reading & writing (recent discovery: Robert Anton Wilson; I enjoy Murakami and a couple books by Tom Robbins; Greg Egan for the few who know him)
- hiking, running, fitness, snowboarding
- newly discovered interest in Eastern philosophies, which I'm strongly drawn to explore: what can these teach us, and how can they be synthesized into a larger picture informed (to the extent they can be) by Western scientific understanding?

• arts
• writing
• books
• architecture
• dancing
• fitness
• marathon
• running
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• music
• piano
• hiking
• snowboarding
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Books mentioned above. I like movies but as I get older I see more repetition & little innovation coming from Hollywood, the same stories being retold with better camerawork and fewer imperfections, in 3-D, in IMAX, and I wonder what the purpose is. I like movies which show me a slice of life, which teach me something real, or which have a distinct innovative artistic style.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

things done:
- created and published an iPhone app
- ran a half-marathon in less than 2 hours with no training (and paid the price the week afterwards) :)
- attended Burning Man a few times

things experienced/seen:
- the scale and the architecture of Kyoto Eki (train station), its vast indoor space and mood; temples in Japan
- understanding that dancing is, in its purest form, simply a means of communication-- just like visual art and music; the body wants to dance, but we shouldn't "force" it
- a profound experience (I will not say how obtained) of how the brain is a "learning computer"; that learning is not a choice; that below any sort of conscious control, we MUST learn from our experiences; this amazing learning self-adapting conscious computer/soul is all we are

Teach, Learn, Share

I can fix your computer or teach you programming or art!

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States