CURRENT MISSION

My weary feet want to revel in a place they can call home. I am a nomad, though I have yet to decide whether this is an intrinsic state of being or born from the lack of compatible soil. My ties to places wear thin after a few years. Something prods me.

ABOUT ME

I should start by saying that I think I've regressed. I've spent much time, effort, and money on an education that doesn't seem to be valid enough to sustain me in today's society (or at least in the cities I have lived in since moving back to the States!). I take issue with the current infrastructure of how things are run, generally speaking. Reality TV makes me cringe and contorts my face unbecomingly.

I'm in transit. I had a professor once who said, "unlearn your privilege." It stuck with me and since then I have tried to do so. I volunteered at an orphanage in Nepal for three months. I trekked through rice paddies with a walking stick that had a salt patch at the bottom to sizzle leeches unlucky enough to attach themselves to me. I ate with my hand, had a very close relationship with nature when it was time to relieve myself of waste, squatting above a hole with no ending in sight or hearing.

I've lived in the UK, Nepal, Australia, spent summers in Europe as a child and winters as an adult. Learning about people and how they've come to be is my one constant driving force. I don't believe in right and wrong without understanding a person's place of being first. I've studied enough cultures to realize that the some of the norms we adhere to are nothing more than conditioned learning naturalized.

I could go on and on about all my quirks and foibles but the rest can be told in person to interested parties. But basically I'm simple, low maintenance, sometimes a bit too in my own head, laugh when people would think to cry, sing and dance with reckless abandon as I'm not very good at either, rescue animals from indifferent owners, consider children my soul mates, and believe anything and everything that happens in life has a silver lining.

PHILOSOPHY

Be who you are. Compromise with what you love, and nothing else. You only remember one life unless you have some uncanny ability I'd be highly jealous of, so live it in a way than is more than just breathing. Your gut has knowledge your mind will never be privy to, so just accept it and move on. Going back is only for reference, it's the journey before that should take your breath away. Laugh.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Poorly. Been part of it for 8 years and haven't been incredibly active. 😬
Trying to remedy that factor now that I've finally managed to create a space for myself in the Pacific Northwest.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Searching and searching; just shy of connecting.

Interests

reading
writing
traveling
cultures
cooking
people
people
people
helping those who are not in a position to help themselves
karma
nature
cities
green
moving
living
learning
leaving gentle footprints in the world which would inspire rather than destroy

• animals
• dogs
• culture
• writing
• singing
• dancing
• education
• cooking
• running
• walking
• partying
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• boxing
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't gravitate to a particular type of anything. I like things that can make me laugh, or cry, or both simultaneously. Any book, movie, or music, that can evoke some type of feeling, I'm a fan. From Nick Hornby to Milan Kundera; from Harry Potter to Transcendentalism; the dictionary; reading about poop; from Avatar to Julie and Julia; Shakira to Dead Man's Bones. I'm open to most things.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've seen so many amazing things, both grotesque and breathtaking, it would take longer than I have at the moment to type them all out for your perusal. But the most amazing thing I have done was work at the orphanage in Nepal. The experience was humbling and eye opening and insert any cliched phrase you can think of that could be associated with some type of epiphanic revelation. I fear they changed my life for the better more than I did theirs. To have such a hard lives and still manage to smile with their eyes in spite of it all, a truly amazing experience.

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to learn everything. Literally. What I have to teach: adaptability is human's most underestimated and yet greatest quality. Both sides have a story worth hearing. Dichotomies are never so clear cut. The surface of a person should only be the tip of the iceberg, never the whole thing. Labels define incorrectly. No one, in a box, fits comfortably. Life's too short and precious to be so overcome by tragedy that you forget you have laughter.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Croatia, French Polynesia, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Serbia, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Nepal, United Kingdom, United States

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