CURRENT MISSION

To laugh and to love. To dance barefoot through the garden of life and eat ripe peaches.

ABOUT ME

Given the choice, what I would really like to do is to run through fields of flowers, escape the bounds of gravity, dance through the blue sky, swim without needing to breathe, and paint what I see inside my head so others can understand without me having to try to explain it all.
I am so anxiously eager to travel the world, but it is not my time yet. Sometimes it is so hard to wait!
The things that bring me the most fulfillment are:

When I travel alone. It is THE BEST feeling.

Meeting new people. Sitting around the table listening the conversation, the amazing new thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints.

DANCING. It is the ultimate expression.

Yoga makes me very happy. :)))) Daily asana and pranayama help me stay peaceful and balanced. I completed my 200 hour YTT through Sivananda.

Digging in good dirt. Standing somewhere in the summer sunshine, HARVESTING something. The sun, the vitality of the fruits and vegetables, the wholesomeness of the soil and everything working together and growing -- it just feels like that is what life must be all about. I feel I could burst with happiness!

PHILOSOPHY

1) In every process is sacred purpose. The process is the important thing, the result is just a bonus.

2) Live in each moment. Enjoy the beautiful world, and appreciate all the little details.

3) Every person has a treasure in them, a unique value, a destiny that no other person can fulfill. I want to always keep that in mind, not to just pass people by. I would like to do what I can to help them know they are worthwhile.
Other than that, I would like to find my purpose for being here, and do a good job fulfilling my own destiny.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love to tell people about CS. My experience with CS has been fantastic! Couchsurfers are among the finest people in the world. Everyone I have met has been very easy-going, friendly, helpful, full of kindness and so welcoming.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I was introduced to the concept of couchsurfing while WWOOFing. I looked at the website and I was hooked.

I spent three beautiful weeks couchsurfing in London, and here at home have hung out with and/or surfed with some great people in Cincinnati and Columbus through Couchsurfing meets/invasions.

I believe couchsurfing draws the very best out of people. When people are treated with trust, friendship, tolerance, openness, they naturally are pulled up another level, and gain the desire to live up to those qualities. They become more trustworthy, more friendly, more tolerant, more open....
Couchsurfing has restored and elevated my faith in humankind. The world is now a safer, friendlier place.

I will no longer see people through the negative viewpoint presented by the media.
I see the people of the world as friendships just waiting to be made, fascinating new thoughts and ideas waiting to be shared.

We are all on the same team.

Interests

I have a list of things I want to try to do in my life.

I look at it every so often, and try to always have some things on it I am actively working toward accomplishing.
Because the years keep passing, and you can't just wait around forever for "someday" to come. It is important to dream NOW, today, and to always keep reaching....

Things I like to do:
I love singing, and all kinds of dancing.
Letting the rhythm flow through me in almost ANY kind of dance is my ultimate joy. That is when I feel most alive, when I most able to "live in the moment".

Painting!!!

Writing is also essential.
I need it to empty out my head and my heart, and I feel a bit fidgety if I find myself without a notebook and pen.

It would also be great to be able to travel back in time. Maybe to be a pioneer, striking out bravely into untamed lands....how exciting!

And I have always wished I could fly.

Dangerous weather turns me right on, it feels so ENERGIZING, and one of my dreams is to be able to experience a tornado, etc. up close.

I thrive on physical activity. Yoga, bicycling, running, and Zumba.

I love eating, and trying different kinds of foods.

More than ANYTHING, I love to explore new places and meet new people.
It would be unbelievably fantastic to go backpacking/couchsurfing across Europe. Not yet, but it is just over the horizon...

I have a lifelong dream of spending a summer, or a year with local people in France and/or Italy, and becoming immersed in those languages and cultures. I desire it so strongly, I feel it is something I MUST do in my lifetime! For years I have had this mental image of myself riding a bicycle over cobblestone streets, les baguettes sticking out the basket...
But while I wait, I am learning to speak French.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela? Est-ce qu'il y a un homme sur cette maison?"

I think I might like to try teaching conversational English in another country.
I find great satisfaction in finding my way around new places with a map.

Some things that feel good:
I think it is beautiful, the feeling that comes when a mass of autumn leaves blow down from a tree and swirl around me. I wish then I could be a leaf with them, frolicking in the wind.

I love it in early summer, when zillions of fireflies are twinkling in the misty fields behind my house. And if there is a sharp little crescent moon, it is positively magical....I love crescent moons.

Going running on a rainy morning. A warm spring rain. There is nothing like it, it is just SO good. Running clothes soaked with sweat and rain, hair plastered down, sneakers filled with water, and a huge smile on my face that will not go away!
This is life!

There is a bittersweet feeling that comes with the truly beautiful things. It makes me long to BE something, or somewhere, beyond this world....

do you ever feel that?

• writing
• singing
• dancing
• cheese
• yoga
• running
• zumba
• walking
• flying
• gardening
• clothing
• flowers
• traveling
• painting
• backpacking
• swimming
• communications
• languages
• wwoof
• intentional community
• holistic healing
• herbalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Well, I like all kinds of music. I like to sing along in the car. I really adore baroque and early music. I want it to grip my heart, to take me away. Harps and tinwhistles, and cellos. Boy soprano choirs. Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Rodrigo, Gabrieli.
John Williams, Ronan Hardiman. Loreena McKennitt.

Simon and Garfunkel. The Beatles.

I am fascinated by unusual instruments from other countries or from long ago. I have a passion for percussion. African hand drums and drum circles! I am always open to learning something new ---what is your favorite music? I'd like to hear it.
I play a few instruments, not too skillfully, but simply for the joy of it, because it is so satisfying to express oneself through music:
Djembe, Celtic harp, Native American flute, and tinwhistle.
I love to read, when I have time. If I find a good book, I tend to stay up all night and read it cover to cover. I am helpless to stop myself.
Some books I would recommend, because they have impacted my life, are Ben Hur (Lew Wallace) Les Miserables (Victor Hugo), The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)and "The Awakening" (Kate Chopin). I like books in which the author is giving you a part of themselves, like, the most important lesson they have learned, and communicating it in such a way that the reader can be fully impacted and left inspired to apply it to their own life.

Just now, I am trying to read "Eat, Pray, Love," but it keeps making me sad so I have not gotten very far!

And I prefer books have happy endings, and if they don't, well, I have to reimagine it in my mind!!

I also like children's literature, which is good, since reading aloud often is part of my job description! I am a devoted fan of Tove Jansson, Edward Eager, and Susan Cooper.

Movie-wise, I was really moved by The Fellowship of the Rings. So fantastically beautiful, such a stirring soundtrack, and once you have seen it, who can help but have a secret longing in their heart to be one of Tolkien's elves, those noble, elegant, creatures? True beauty. I find that people either totally understand, or they just don't at all.

I like movies, and have watched a ton of them, but I have this habit of dozing off right around the climax. Then when I wake up, I have to ask everyone to explain what happened, and some people find that ANNOYING!
????

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One warm spring night, when a soft rain was falling, a friend and I went walking.

We walked and walked, through mazes of brick-paved streets and alleys, streetlights shining softly on the wet bricks.
There were spring flowers blooming everywhere, their fragrance filling the night air. And love seemed possible again.

It stays in my mind, like a beautiful dream.

The whole next day, I kept finding myself singing Simon & Garfunkel’s “For Emily, whenever I may find her”.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would enjoy sharing a session of yoga and meditation. I can provide help with alignment and compassionate touch.

I am interested in Intentional Communities.

I am a potter. I can teach you the basics of hand-building and wheel throwing with clay.

I am an editor -- I would not mind proofreading your work if you need a pair of eyes.

I wouldn't mind learning how to make cheese!

I know a bit about organic gardening. Dark, rich, fertile soil seems almost delicious to me. I am a proud member of WWOOF.

I would be happy to teach those interested what I know about home birth. Really, it is not nearly as messy as you might imagine. And it is a very interesting subject.

I have learned some simple steps of nutrition that have transformed my health and quality of life, and would be very happy to talk about it with anyone who wants to know! Also I have learned a few simple, practical home remedies along the way that have saved my family from countless trips to the doctor.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am an expert dishwasher.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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