I am a creative, passionate person, full of joy, love, and an open heart. I believe myself to be an old soul with a youthful spirit. I try to live in the present and pay attention to the small things that are often taken for granted. I know the importance of balance. I live my life with reverence to all humans, no matter what their surface appearance, and with reverence to the planet. I make friends everywhere I go.

I would like to find someone who has these characteristics: Compassionate to all people no matter what their surface appearance is. A sense of humor, able and willing to laugh at themselves. Enjoys being silly and participates regularly. Knows the value of laughter when difficult situations arise. Healthy body… takes care of themselves by eating well, exercising, acknowledging personal physical limitations. I would love to find someone who would like to go on walks with me, maybe hike up Stone Mountain. Healthy mind… on the vast spectrum of mental health you sit towards the healthiest side because you were loved, honored, and supported as a child, you look inside yourself and ask questions and learn from your experiences. You understand the importance of being present and know the value of balance in all areas of life. You value silence. You value the planet that we live on and do your part to honor it. It is not unlikely that you have actually hugged a tree at some point in your life. You enjoy a neat living space, make your bed, like to wash the dishes. I enjoy cleaning as a team the most... its always fun to make a game of it. You have an adventurous spirit. You are respectful and honor my physical limitations: I have celiac which means that I can’t eat wheat, barley, oats, or rye. I love to eat though and thoroughly enjoy having someone to cook with or go out to dinner with. You are looking and ready for something serious and long term but know that that kind of relationship must be built upon a solid foundation of friendship. You have been in enough relationships in your life to have learned a good amount about the importance of open honest communication. Hopefully you have also spent a good amount of time as a single person and are comfortable being alone. It would be nice if you have lived in places other than Atlanta, feel at home here and like the idea of building a life here.

You don’t have to be an artist yourself but an appreciation and some understanding of the arts is essential. I tend to be most attracted to musicians, artists, teachers, and alternative health care practitioners, so if you are among that list bonus points for you. I'd like to find someone who is my equal and who will be my lifelong best friend. I'm also quite happy to make new friends on okcupid so let me know if that's more your style.

Lately, I have become more content with being single than I ever thought possible. I am not actively looking for a mate. I am, of course, open to it if I meet someone who I think is fabulous, but mostly I am quite content with the notion of meeting new people and expanding my circle of friends. If I contact you, and I will (most likely if I look at your profile and think that we are kindred spirits or you seem like my kinda fun) you can assume that I am interested in making a new friend. If anything else evolves out of that then terrific. I'm happy either way. Really happy, actually.

Most of the time I'm having fun doing what I love: painting, teaching, exploring, eating, cooking. When I'm not doing that I'm sleeping. Actually, sleeping fits into the first category. hmm

Lately, every morning when I get up I stream of consciousness write in my giant sketch pad that doubles as a journal and I draw my dreams, then I sit and meditate (I watch my thoughts). I then dance naked to the shower. I sometimes add a mantra to my naked dance. It is a glorious ritual that I plan to keep. Step one: brain drain. Step two: sit in stillness. Step three: energize! Try doing that every day for three weeks and see what happens!

loving myself, loving others, being brave and spontaneous, playing, enjoying myself, listening and giving advice, drawing things exactly the way they look, painting, color theory, right brained stuff, problem solving, singing, matching up my friends, seeing other people's perspective, teaching patiently, simplifying things down.

maybe my smile. I tend to smile at everyone... even passing dogs.

Books... The Artist's Way, The Vein of Gold, The Life of Pi, Small Wonder, Walden, The Power of Now, A New Earth, The Secret Life of Bees, Hope for the Flowers (a book illustrated and written for adults and children about a bunch of caterpillars that are trying to get high, by climbing a giant caterpillar pillar (corporate ladder). Eventually they figure out that they can fly.)

Movies... Being John Malchovich, Amelie, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Requiem for a Dream, The Never Ending Story, Food Inc.

Music... My quality of my life is truly enhanced by those who make beautiful music. I am totally in love with My Brightest Diamond right now. I can barely stand how gorgeous it is. In general: latin, jazz, funk, classical, experimental, indie, electronica, chick, the list goes on... Eisley, Joanna Newsom, Calexico, Tori Amos, The Indigo Girls, Radiohead, Billie Holiday, The Arcade Fire, Boards of Canada, Death Cab for Cutie, Joni Mitchel, Mason Jennings, Miles Davis, Neko Case, Norah Jones, Polecat Creek, The Police, Postal Service, Sade, The Shins, Spoon, Stan Getz, Sufjan Stevens, Talking Heads, Yann Tiersen, +/-, The Buene Vista Social Club, Mum, Hooverphonic, Gillian Welch, Ghazal.

I love food, especially the kind that I can eat. I love, love, love to cook. I make the most incredible gluten free peanut butter banana blueberry pancakes the world has ever known. I'm eventually going to write a fine art illustrated gluten free cookbook... wanna create some recipes with me?

I prefer to never do without my family, friends, sunlight, trees, art making, and exercise. Some of those are also needed to sustain life. crazy. I couldn't help myself.

I'm in the practice of watching and listening much more than thinking and talking these days. I feel no desire to fill up my brain or the silence with endless chatter... silence is lovely. I'm in the process of integrating a meditation practice into my life.

I think about prioritizing my time so that I can spend the most possible amount of time doing the things that I love.

I think about how I can create positive change, how I can live completely in alignment with what I think and feel is most glorious and essential. I would love to have a good sized organic vegetable garden... anyone local interested in starting one with me? I've got the space but would love a helper. I would love to design and build an earthship to live and create in. http://www.earthship.net/ In the fall I am planning on going with my friend a few times a month to clean homeless people's feet. I can't imagine anything more loving than that. I'm looking forward to it. I think about how I can create art that speaks as profoundly as music can and what I want my message to be.

Some folks have responded to the idea of cleaning homeless people's feet with confusion so I'd like to elaborate. Homeless people use their feet as their main source of transportation. They are often in very bad shape, most of them have fungus and are painful. The foot clinic that I go to is part of a larger service where people are offered a place to live and food to eat. The night that the foot clinic happens people are fed, they get to see a doctor and they get to have their feet worked on (scrubbed, toenails cut, calluses removed, fungus removed, bandages of wounds.) They get new dry socks and sometimes they get new shoes if they are available. It is a wonderful service that was created out of a genuine need.

Cooking and dancing and singing simultaneously in the buff.. (cooking is a gloriously creative act for me), painting, going on an adventure.

I love to run around outside at night with no particular destination in mind... kind of like stream of consciousness traveling.

I love walking meditation and find myself doing that many evenings. Listening to trees, watching fireflies, breathing, feeling myself move through space.

I am an open book. If you date me be prepared to hear the truth. If I love you, be prepared to hear all of it in a kind and thoughtful manner. If I like you, be prepared to know it. If I hate you, well, that doesn't ever really happen.

This is not really private but not really fun to share either: my diet is complicated. Who ever is going to be a good fit for me will be super patient and will enjoy finding new and fun ways to make food. I pretty much don't eat any starches and seem to not be tolerating red meat, garlic, onions, etc either these days. So, I eat alot of fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts. Because of my limitations I have gotten really good at improvising and making fantastic meals out of the things that I can eat. I made grilled mahi mahi with mango pepper basil chutney, organic multi colored honey tarragon carrots (purple carrots included) and thyme summer squash for dinner last night. I have also invented totally grain free bread. I make it out of flax seed, almond butter, walnuts, bananas, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla!

Just in case you pay attention to these things, my personality awards "Less Spiritual" and "Less desiring of sex" are inaccuracies probably based on how the questions were stated. Spirituality is awesome, sex is awesome and both simultaneously: mmmm, yummy.

If you are enamored by my profile and feel like everything that I've said fits you to a T. Otherwise, get lost!

Just kidding.

If you don't always make your bed that's okay. (I don't either)