"It'd be a shame to stop now that I've started to make really good mistakes..."
- Sara Bareilles

I recently discovered with delight that this site actually has real potential: He was unexpected, quite a bit younger than me, and it ended because he moved away at the end of the summer -- but it was absolutely lovely, effortless, sweet, caring, passionate, fun, mutually respectful, supportive and even a bit healing for both of us. So now I am hooked.

If you are out there and reading this and you are philosophically inclined, wicked smart, kind, compassionate (nice, but not boring) and emotionally mature enough to be reasonably good to yourself and others.....
... then I want to hear from you!

I am passionate about life, positive, think a lot (as in: very analytical, logical, probing), smile and laugh easily, am kind to strangers, kids and animals. I am doing something I love doing, my life is full, rich, rewarding. I am most proud maybe, and slightly amazed, by the wonderful friendships in my life. And yet, it would be nice to have someone to share with, a partner, a "witness," companion, a shoulder to lean on from time to time, someone to walk beside, to touch and hold...
It would be nice to find a long-term partner, but that takes time and luck and I am open for sweet encounters along the way.

I am European, an academic, a single mom of an 8 year old boy (and loving it), I enjoy simple things, candles and a glass of wine, walking barefoot in the sand, pizza and a movie, pillow fights, cooking and enjoying a nice meal with friends, and also pop culture, I listen to lots of music and enjoy going to the movies (a lot). Politically, my views are left of the left mainstream and I care enough about many of these issues that it matters for any potential match.

It is easy to claim to be lots of things in the virtual world and it's all rather subjective anyway .... but here goes a laundry-list anyway: If pressed for a description, I would say that I am kind, considerate, perceptive, sensitive, compassionate, but also opinionated, strong-willed, very independent, highly analytical and quite direct and honest, a little chaotic and not entirely uncomplicated. (if you are looking for just a "normal and fun woman" - whatever that means - you may want to move on ;-))

creativity is important to me and I am continuously engaged in some creative project or another (painting, photography, various crafts projects...). I also value self-awareness, taking responsibility for one's own "shit" and contributing in whichever way we can to making this world a better place (in small ways and bigger ones).

I am in academia (social science/ humanities) at a research university, which does not define me but since I love what I do it is relevant information.
If I were not doing this, I would want spend my time working in/for an NGO that fights poverty, works for protecting human rights and/ or the environment, promotes fair trade, corporate responsibility, conscious consumption, international distributive justice and so on....

logic
graphic design
....

bad at:
small talk
paperwork
keeping my environment streamlined
making seemingly irrelevant decisions quickly - the big ones are often much easier for me
(and I appreciate and accept help! ;-))

this would be a long long list. instead, here are a couple quotes I like besides the one at the top:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."
— Margaret Mead

"A solitarist approach is, in general, a very efficient way of misunderstanding nearly everyone in the world."
- Amartya Sen

"...always the wish that you may find patience enough in yourself to endure, and simplicity enough to believe; that you may acquire more and more confidence in that which is difficult, and in your solitude among others. And for the rest, let life happen to you. Believe me: life is right, in any case..."
"... for one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation....... ...And this more human love (that will fulfill itself, infinitely considerate and gentle, and kind and clear in binding and releasing) will resemble that which we are preparing with struggle and toil, the love that consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other...."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

“But things always look very gloomy if you simply extrapolate present negative trends and forget that these trends can be interrupted, quite abruptly, and then, luckily, we shall all be wrong. Such unexpected miracles constantly happen in human history; and without such miracles, we would long ago have died a natural, or rather unnatural death.”
- Hannah Arendt

my son
my friends and family
sun, ocean, sea breeze, horizons, the smell of fresh herbs in the air, sound of waves...
creativity
learning
laughter
music
hope
meaning

(and yes, I can count, but don't see the point of limiting this list to six in number or to "things")

I enjoy thinking and talking about: philosophical questions (ethics, justice, political thought, philosophy of language, the nature of knowledge, the human condition....), people - what makes them tick..., psychology, my friends and family, relationships, politics, non-violence, meaning, how to grow as a person...............

this profile speaks to you and you are...
- genuinely kind
- intelligent, analytical, thoughtful
- educated (grad school or equivalent)
- mature, sorted, (self-)aware
- reasonably at ease with who you are
- positive about life
- creative in some way
- passionate about what you do and good at it
- socially conscious
- fond of kids and animals
- more interested in meaning and connections than in status or wealth

...then i would really love to hear from you!