Short version: I love to travel, explore, meet people, and build community. I am a life artist, musician, singer, dancer, teacher, and I love to cook and share food. I'm a lifetime student of plant medicine: plant spirit medicine, essential oils, flower essences, and I love to share...

Long version:
I come from Southern Oregon, where I grew up in the forest. I love my family of origin and my family of friends. I am on a path of learning how to be in healthy, joyful partnership in all my relationships, human and non-human.

I thrive best living in some form of community. I've had tastes of it here and there: growing food, caring for animals, turning the abundance of harvest into delicious nourishment and sharing it, preserving food, working together with loved-ones to create a home, coming together at the end of the day to share stories and laughter around a fire.

I am passionate about connection: with Self, the Divine, nature and place, community, family, close friends, and my sweetheart, Eric. My heart's dream is to live in a "village" of thriving, whole people evolving a culture of healing our hearts. A village needs true elders, wise ones who have come through layers of initiation intact and in humble service to the benefit of all. I aspire to someday be an elder.

I'm interested in feminine mysteries (The Red Tent), healing the relationship between masculine and feminine energies (and people!), the idea of initiation and how it takes place in modern society vs. indigenous cultures.

I'm on a path toward transforming my livelihood to more truly reflect who I am and my passions, to create a livelihood that's fun, joyful, satisfying and prosperous. I believe I would love to be a Waldorf teacher again at some point, but I'm not sure how that fits, and the school I dream of is an evolution of the form we have thus far been working with toward more of a village model. Imagine taking the focus off the children: adults working together to build, heal, create, and learn, while the children learn at their own pace from our process. I love hands-on, nature-based, farm and primitive skills type curricula.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have a gut feeling it will enhance what I'm doing with my life:
Learning to take it to the next level; in lifetime process of uncovering the slightly dusty heart guidance system. . Developing a business about life as art, co-creating rituals and retreats to cultivate connection to self, others, nature, spirit....
Having fun.

Simply: I hope to share knowledge, interests, music, creativity, and adventures with other kindred spirits while experiencing more of the world.

Interests

• arts
• education
• organic food
• yoga
• meditation
• music
• live music
• hiking
• camping
• nature
• dance
• community living
• primitive skills
• community
• plant medicine
• cooking and baking
• anthroposophy

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: The Brothers K is my all-time favorite book. Some genres: short stories, Science Fiction, personal growth, spirituality, indigenous cultures, young adult fiction, Some authors: Martin Prechtel, Sobonfu and Malidoma Some, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, William Sullivan (hiking guides), Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, Marilynn Robinson, Kurt Vonnegut, Jean M Auel, Olga Kharitidi, David James Duncan (the Brothers K!), Derrick Jensen, Eliot Cowan (Plant Spirit Medicine), Tom Robbins, Titles: The Ringing Cedars series, The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You, Divergent series, The Continuum Concept, Spell of the Sensuous, The Artist's Way...

Music: oh so much! Wide variety. I love to be introduced to new sounds. Music with roots in Africa tends to spark my interest, Blues, Funk, Rock, Country & Bluegrass, Folk/World, Pygmie, Singing Alive/spirit songs, Kirtan...

Ecstatic Dance & 5Rhythms, yoga, Qigong

Movies: documentaries, art & music documentaries, comedy, adventure, independent... Some titles: Arrival, Tracks, Star Wars series, Smoke Signals, Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue, Princess Bride, Adaptation, Mussel Shoals, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Why is my mind otherwise blank?

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Grief Ritual with Sobonfu Some

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm really good at:
Amazing hugs, building and tending fire (even with wet wood), going deep in conversation, holding space for emotions, planning adventures, creating community experiences, going for the truth and not settling for less, finding out who I am and what I want, believing in what's possible, loving with all my heart, playing, making art, dancing, cuddling, communicating boundaries, making amazing meals from random ingredients, telling jokes, writing letters, hiking barefoot...

Food: I love food as an expression of our connection to the Earth, to place, history, and culture. I love sharing food. I love to experiment and create new combinations, ethnic influences, healthy, local, sustainable, humanely and respectfully harvested. I play with a spectrum of viewpoints from raw live sprouting fermenting, juices and smoothies to Nourishing Traditions. I eat mostly gluten free but I love making sourdough bread, and I have a lot of experience preparing food for alternative diets from vegan to Paleo to GAPS.

I spend a lot of time thinking about:
The creative projects I have going that are exciting to me. Community, and how to resprout a Village. Transformation, starting with myself. Integrating my shadow, healing, art, love, relationships, family, tribe, village, my gifts as livelihood, dreams, prayers for opening my heart... Places to go backpacking or other adventures.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Helping out, music, laughter, cooking/food, conversation, essential oils and related knowledge

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

France