I'm currently in my (hopefully) last semester of grad school, where I am focusing on political conflict de-escalation. For my MA project I created a podcast called Dialogue Dilemmas. Listening to it may give you a good impression of some of the things I'm about. www.dialoguedilemmas.com

I recently lost two cats within a few months of each other and was briefly without any companion animals for the first time in...almost my entire life, other than a brief period as a teenager. But then I adopted three rats who I am getting to know. So it probably wouldn't work to have guest pets in the house right now as the rats get comfortable.

I've been homeless, lived in intentional community, hitchhiked, and am now living with a partner and no other roommates for the first time in my life.

PHILOSOPHY

(I wrote the below text a while ago and while I don't disagree with it, I feel like it doesn't quite match my current vibe, but I'm not sure what to put instead, and want to leave something to give people a sense of me.)

Life is paradoxical, and we are all doing our best to get our needs met. We have the potential to create a world that works for all. How potent that potential is is the question. I'm an apocaloptimist - I believe that everything is going to shit but it's all going to turn out OK.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Meet travel-lovers, travel on a budget and help others do the same. Make connections, add a "randomize" button into life sometimes when someone asks for a place to stay (within certain parameters).

Currently I live in pretty decent-sized place with just me and my partner. We have a room that is mostly the meditation room, though can double as a guest room. It is pretty empty right now with no furniture. We have air mattresses or you can sleep on the floor. Bedding may or may not be available.

Interests

I am interested in Internal Family Systems, Nonviolent Communication, and living well.

I have gotten excited and inspired about many different strategies for 'making the world a better place' in my life, including permaculture and social justice campaigns. I became very disillusioned with 'social justice' movements over the past 4-5 years and have come to the conclusion that many activists are (re)acting out of trauma responses and perpetuating patterns of human interactions that include violence, suffering, and authoritarianism. I no longer see most activist movements as being part of breaking cycles of violence and suffering in the world, but rather being caught up in such cycles. At best such movements do some good to change society while also creating new and unacknowledged harms.

If I had to name any social actors that might be an exception to this generalization, it would be people working on communicating with those who see the world differently with compassion, like John Kinyon's "Across the Aisle" event: https://johnkinyon.com/events/

• animals
• cats
• arts
• womens rights
• reading
• traveling
• dumpster diving
• languages
• queer
• dialogue
• spanish
• academia
• trauma healing
• trauma

Music, Movies, and Books

Currently or recently reading/watching as of August 2021:

Webinars on depression from Sarah Peyton
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz (about Internal Family Systems)
Momo by the guy who wrote Never-Ending Story (I forget his name right now)
El principe del sol by Claudia Ramirez Lomeli (I need to re-learn how to type Spanish accents)
Manifest (it's kinda dumb, but I plan to finish it if they renew)
Good Trouble (and I watched The Fosters, which it spins off from)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (one of the smartest shows I've seen)
Future Man (rewatching with my partner, who is watching for the first time)

Some other selections - some are out of date/ not as interesting to me these days, but sure, I'll leave them:

The Hunger Games (books and movies),
Harry Potter (books and fanfiction, no on the movies)
Lord of the Rings
Homeward Bound and Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco
The Land Before Time
His Dark Materials trilogy
A Wish After Midnight

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hiked to a hot springs waterfall, and swam in the creek running under it. In Guatemala. Yes, you read correctly, a hot springs waterfall.

Rode in a small waterboat off the coast of Panama into Colombia, through the most beautiful waters I've seen (tied with Lago Atitlan, and probably other places too).

Survived into my thirties with an Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) score of 7 or 8.

Teach, Learn, Share

Nonviolent Communication, mediation, facilitation, consensus-decision-making

Academia stuff - I'm in grad school

Spanish, and language acquisition in general, and etymology (I'm a huge fan).

Basics of how to make and distribute a podcast, and audio editing in Audacity. I'm self-taught so there are gaps.

I've had lots of different interests over the years that aren't as active these days, but are still part of me, such as foraging wild plants, dumpster diving, gardening, and permaculture.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have a lot of experience doing conflict and group decision-making work. If you need mediation for a conflict in your house or community, or a community organization you are involved with would like a guest facilitator for a meeting, I would be thrilled to share my skills. I have experience with both consensus decision-making and Nonviolent Communication.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, United States, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States, Uruguay