I'm an outgoing introvert, a homebody who is very social person, a mainstream-seeming person with very un-mainstream beliefs, and a multitude of other contradictions. I believe in questioning everything, and love to envision a world in which all of us are fully alive and doing what we can to transform consciousness and be of service.

Right now I'm transitioning from working on a community change initiative in the Detroit area, to offering life coaching and consulting to change agents, social entrepreneurs, and activists. Previously I was an environmental program designer (translation: grant-writer), and before that I ran a small re-localization nonprofit. I believe we most of us are called to do something to make the world better, and that we owe it to ourselves and the world to figure out what it is and to DO IT. The world need us; we need to wake up.

Starting projects. Connecting people. Surprising people. Facilitating. Figuring people out (I wanted to be a professional people watcher as a kid and I think I've succeeded pretty well).

My friends joke that it is impossible to go anywhere in town without me running into someone I know. As an introvert, I find that pretty amusing. However, in between places I've lived, volunteered, been an activist, danced; done spiritual practice; or worked at, it does indeed seem I know a lot of people. I find this quite comforting.

Books:
Lately I've been captivated by Martha Beck's Finding Your Way in a wild new world - who can go wrong with wordlessness and oneness? :) I'm also fond of: Ishmael (Daniel Quinn); Candide (Voltaire); Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein); Veronika Decides to Die (Paulo Coelho); Woman on the Edge of Time (Marge Piercy); and New Earth (Eckhart Tolle)

Movies: Little miss sunshine, don juan de marco, good will hunting, princess bride, four weddings and a funeral, the guru (no, definitively NOT a spiritual movie)... and several others I can't think of.

Music. I've never found that music is one of those things that makes me more or less interested in getting to know a person, so I'm not going to list music. I will, however, for no apparent reason, link to a random YouTube of an amazing musician combining beatboxing with cello: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T36A-H8dPhI&feature=player_embedded.

TV: Yep, I'm one of those TV-less people. I must admit, though, that I did recently make it through the Battlestar Galactica series thanks to Netflix.

Food:
Yes, I eat it. And love love love really interesting, unusual, spicy food. In particular I am fond of various sorts of vegetarian Asian food: Thai, Indian & Korean.

1. Laughter
2. Mangos
3. Reading & Discussing fascinating books, ideas, and theories
4. Dancing
5. Spiritual practice - the specifics vary, but making time to connect to the beauty and connectedness around us makes everything else matter.
6. Silence. Stillness.

* Our crazy world, and how it got that way. How I'd remake it, if I had the chance... good thing I do!
* Executing random harmless practical jokes, that will make me laugh even if nobody else does.
* Creating the ideal intentional community.
* Why the Thai curries I make at home don't resemble the ones I ate when I was traveling/volunteering in Thailand.
* Kale. Kale chips. Kale soup. Sauteed kale.

Having a long discussion with a friend about the meaning of life and love; cooking something new and interesting; attending a random event that I know nothing about; dancing.

I used to be a campus safety officer in college, and enjoyed it enough that I briefly considered a career in law enforcement until I realized it involved actual danger, and I might actually have to harm someone. Ok, so that isn't particularly private, but believe me - if you had a picture of me wearing the ugliest uniform ever of a pasty gray button up shirt and black clip on tie - THAT would be private.

* You want to save the world. Seriously - the kind of people who feel a calling to DO somethings to make things more joyful, more just, more kind - are my kind of people.
* You want to save the world AND you have a somewhat inappropriate sense of humor. Saving the world doesn't have to be somber and joyless - really!
* You resonate with the message of any of the books I list.
* You believe growing and changing as a person is important (for me spiritual practice is the best way I've found to make this happen, but there are a variety of ways to do this).
* You know where to find paw paws or other hard-to-find interesting foods. [Edit - I've finally tasted them, and they are as amazing as I'd thought. Now you should message me if you have a place I can plant paw paw trees and pick fruit from them daily in September and October.]
* You are over a 75% match. If not, it is unlikely that we are a good match (but hey - feel free to make the case - it's not like okc is perfect...).