I am relaxed and busy, creative, empathic, believe strongly in personal growth, and have a deep love of nature, travel, the outdoors and sunshine. I can be serious, intense and focused as easily as I can be playful, spontaneous and light.

For me, communication is at the heart of relationship, and I believe that the ability to be honest and transparent with oneself is the degree to which we are able to be honest and transparent with others. I love to have deep, meaningful and thought-provoking conversations with grounded, open-minded people who make me laugh.

I've worked in the field of international education for a long time, but have finally moved home to return to school for what will hopefully be my last degree! Being a graduate student is a pleasant sort of hell, and I am insisting on keeping the rest of my life in good balance!

Enjoying it, for starters. I am working on my Psy.D., and teach a variety of workshops around town.

Accumulating as many experiences as possible... in the past I have dabbled in: teaching, experiential/outdoors education, rock climbing in the South Western states, scuba diving in the Red Sea, wandering around the Singapore Zoo (my favorite zoo in the world), school counseling, helpline work, equine therapy for boys in treatment, climbing Mt Sinai with 25 8th graders and seeing the sun rise over the desert, eating candy floss at Brighton Pavilion, contemplating crop circles and Stonehenge, sunset cocktails at Ku De Ta in Bali, working with the East Bali Poverty Project and animal rescue efforts ... I've done a lot of adventuring and am ideally looking for a partner to build and co-create a life together, but am happy to simply find new friends and new experiences!

1. Finding humor in just about anything while living in paradox
2. Being direct: Expressing what I am thinking and feeling (if its true, if its necessary, and if its kind) without carrying resentments around with me.
3. Understanding others/listening deeply
4. Telling stories
5. Making Chocolate Souffles
6. Questioning normal

Eyes. Smile. Accent.

Authors I found interesting in recent years: Ken Wilber, Caroline Myss, Alexander McCall, Barbara Kingsolver, Pema Chodron, Carl Rogers, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Tolkien, Marshall Rosenberg, Clarissa P. Estes, Isabel Allende, Bruce Lipton, David Schwimm, Parker Palmer, Candace Pert, Anthony DeMello. Love science fiction and fantasy and young adult lit. for recreational reading.

Movies - The Matrix (mainly the first one) Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Waking Ned Devine, Something about Mary, Harry Potter (but the books were better), Joy Luck Club, Fight Club, the Usual Suspects ... seriously? Am I supposed to list the whole long list - who would read it?

Music - 97.1 - 89.3 - 91.1 - but migrate around too. And I am a big Leonard Cohen fan: "forget your perfect offering, there is a crack, a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in." Does it get much better than that?

Food: I am pretty adventurous when it comes to food; just as comfortable in a 5 star restaurant with course-specific silverware, as I am crouched around a campfire digging in with my fingers, Sushi/Sashimi, French, Organic and local, Thai, tapas - but, that said, there probably isn't much that I wouldn't enjoy. Unless its Velveeta. Or Spam. That is just disgusting.

Love Brunch: on a sunny outdoor patio, freshly roasted coffee and a large body of water to stare at.

Meaningful conversations
Old friends, good company, kindness
Good books, ideas, music
Beauty, in many forms and expressions
Truth
Laughter
Bridges, in their many forms

One question that I keep wondering about is why some people seem to "wake up" and others seem to be completely content moving through life on auto-pilot, never examining themselves or showing curiosity, interest or wonder at life...

What am I going to have to give up, in order to take my next step?
How can I best use my intentions, thoughts, emotions, words and actions to create consciously and mindfully in my life?
Why does my dear ego always kick up such a fuss and generate such resistance when I try to act more in congruence with my "higher self"?
How do I maintain Poise in the midst of Chaos?
Can I stay in bed for yet one more push of the snooze button ... will anyone notice if I come in late?

Hanging out with friends/family, watching a movie, reading a book, walking through parks/around lakes, and sometimes, working.

You'd like to strike up a conversation and want to see where it leads ...
You have some depth, complexity, intelligence and a compassionate spirit.