CURRENT MISSION

To be in my power.

ABOUT ME

I'm the middle one in the photo!

The other 2 aren't my dogs, but I love animals and plants, especially tall trees. And I love having a conversation with anybody.

Social worker-therapist / radical mental health worker. Vegetarian since I was 12 years old. Loves stories--to listen to and to tell.

I CouchSurfed in Anchorage to intern at Soteria House for 2 months in the summer of 2012. Soteria House is an alternative, non-medical model therapeutic community for people in mental health crisis, especially people experiencing psychotic break. I had been reading and talking about Soteria House for years, and was so excited to finally see the program first hand. Didn't get to see the Northern Lights, though, but saw moose and amazing eagles, hiked and got a moonlight motorcycle ride!

PHILOSOPHY

Be compassionate and accountable. Leave the world a better place than you found it.
I am trying to learn to live Audre Lorde's advice, "Speak your truth, even if your voice shakes."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Thank you, CS-folks--you blow my mind!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first (and now many more) surfer was a delight! Met cool folks in Anchorage. Hope to be able to have surfers again one day (my current house situation doesn't allow it).

Interests

Stories--listening to stories of people's lives and telling my own!
I'm involved in radical mental health work--seeing people whole and our experiences and realities as holy.
I love simple, fresh, vegetarian food, especially cooking together and sharing food.
I used to love bicycling till my knees crapped out.
Being with dogs, cats, plants and trees.

• animals
• dogs
• vegetarian
• food
• stories
• trees

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Watermelon Woman
West Side Story (I can't help it, I grew up in NY)
Whale Rider

Books:
Healing Wise, by Susun Weed
Woman on the Edge of Time, by Marge Piercy
The 1st and 3rd books (Dealing with Dragons and Calling on Dragons) in the Enchanted Forest series, by Patricia Wrede (from when my nieces were younger)
Secrets for the Mad, by Dodie Clark (my younger niece and I are reading this to each other)

Current reading list:
Focusing by Ann Weiser Cornell
Invasive Plant Medicine: The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives, by Timothy Lee Scott
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Talking to angels disguised as street people on the streets of New York City.
The night sky when I lived in rural Oregon.
Being in a forest and looking up at the trees reaching their arms out to each other.

Teach, Learn, Share

How to buy a great used car.
How to talk to anyone.
A cool way to listen deeply to your inner world, called Focusing.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A meal and a story. And help getting something done around the house, inside or out. I especially love helping in the garden.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Puerto Rico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Israel, United States