I am philosophical, intellectually curious, empathic, perceptive, passionate, romantic, intuitive, introspective, analytical, compassionate, sensual, gentle, a little unconventional, and self aware.

I am on the cusp of realizing my goal of attaining a PhD in the little-known field of transpersonal psychology. I feel deeply honored and privileged to have this opportunity to help people heal themselves--after several long years of jumping through academic hoops! Transpersonal psychology arose out of the phenomena of scholarly LSD experimentation in the late 60's. Since then the field has evolved into a whole-person approach to psychology and human consciousness states that emphasizes human strengths and potentials rather than pathology and recognizes the significance of spirituality (in it's broadest sense, e.g. deepest beliefs about existence) to the psyche. I am most interested in the link between profound spiritual or otherwise deeply meaningful experiences and the inspiration to transform society, in particular in the context of developing a better relationship with the natural environment. I moved to southern California in 2012 to begin interning as a child and adolescent psychologist. I'm also currently completing the research for my dissertation on nature-oriented spirituality and sociopolitical engagement to address the ecological crisis.

--Massage (I had a bodywork practice for several years while in graduate school).
--Scholarly research and writing.
--Critical analysis.
--Seeing the big picture.
--Empathizing.
--Being present in the moment.

I suppose maybe my facial expression can be intense at times? However, I do smile a lot, too. And I am actually quite optimistic despite being unhappy about many aspects of our society.

Books: The Spell of the Sensuous; Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason; The Fifth Sacred Thing

Movies: Dancer in the Dark; Dogville and most everything else Lars Von Trier has done; Harold & Maude; Annie Hall and most anything else by Woody Allen; 2001 and Clockwork Orange--yay Kubrick!; The Corporation; What the Bleep Do We Know; The Future of Food; Me and You and Everyone We Know and everything else by Miranda July; Apocalypse Now; The Ice Storm. I think Tarantino is brilliant and his films beautiful, but can't completely translate his violence into aesthetic symbol, so rarely re-watch most of his films.

TV Shows: Northern Exposure; Strangers with Candy; Through the Wormhole; X-Files; Democracy Now.

Music: Van Morrison, Nneka, Beatles, Muse, Mazzy Star, Dead Can Dance, Radiohead, the Cure, The Grateful Dead, Cocteau Twins, Moby, Coldplay, Ravi Shankar, Sheila Chandra, and other spiritual music of all sorts. I like electronic, world beats, blues, classical, and jazz, too.

Food and Drink: first and foremost non-GMO and preferably organic; dark, freshly roasted coffee; shitake mushrooms; leafy greens; berries; fresh whole grain bread; chocolate.

I don't like to say "never," especially in this context, since I know how resilient human animals are from years of working as a counselor with impoverished and traumatized people. Things I would prefer not to live without include:

--A passionate and soul-based love relationship.
--Laughter.
--Literature.
--Art and science.
--A continued wild diversity of other animal and plant species.
--Regular time in areas of pristine wilderness.
--Activities that enrich the mind.
--Activities that enrich the soul.
--Tenderness and compassion for myself and others.
--Pure water.
--Pure food.
--Pure air.
--Sunshine.
--Stars.
--Yoga.

--How to address the corruption of our political system.
--Synchronicities, where they come from, and what they mean, e.g., irregularities in the fabric of space-time; clairvoyance; omens/signs I'm on the right path; signs I should be paying attention, quantum non-local consciousness, etc.

I hate having my photo taken by others due to vanity issues. Hence most extant photos I have available for uploading are scant and those that do exist are poorly and self taken with somewhat ridiculous looking facial expressions.

--you are not allergic to the word 'feminist.'
--you think we might fall in love.

OR
--you think we might enjoy hanging out, have shared interests, and could become great friends.