I enjoy simply being

Some things I enjoy doing: making music with friends; cooking and baking; watching the sun set and clouds; playing with cats; listening to crickets, toads and birds sing; making a fire and sitting quietly next to it in the evening; living a simple life without television and meat; making kalimbas and rainsticks; planting flowers and trees; working in my garden; enjoying the stillness

Sometimes I write: http://winterblume.com

and sometimes I make music with friends:

https://winterblume.bandcamp.com/album/autumn-journey

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Mostly to host. It is a wonderful way to meet wonderful people. I hosted quite a lot from 2009 to 2012 when I had an extra room at my place in Hanoi. And I hosted now and then for a few years when I lived in Pai, Thailand. At the moment I am not hosting because we only have one bed, but I would like to resume hosting when we have a bigger home

I couchsurfed a bit in India because it is nice way to arrive in a big city

Interests

Living simply, love, joy, honesty, respect

Music, Movies, and Books

A few favorites:

"The Forest Unseen" and "The Songs of Trees" by David George Haskell

"Liberation IS: The End of the Spiritual Path" and "The Way of Freedom" by Salvadore Poe

"Prior to Consciousness" and "Consciousness and the Absolute," transcribed talks given by Nisargadatta Maharaj

"The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Alan Watts

"Island" by Aldous Huxley

"Rivers and Tides," a film about Andy Goldsworthy and the ephemeral art he creates.

"Doing Time, Doing Vipassana," a film about the influence of vipassana meditation on prisoners in India.

"The Dhamma Brothers," a film about the influence of vipassana meditation on prisoners in Florida.

"Winged Migration," a beautiful film with great footage of birds flying.

"The Man Without a Past," one of Aki Kaurismäki's best films (all of them are excellent). It is nice to see how his characters live without drama — even when they experience dramatic events.

http://inbflat.net

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A ten-day vipassana meditation course at a Goenka center

Teach, Learn, Share

We could share stillness

I can show you how to make a rainstick or a kalimba — or both!.

"Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing.' Between the two my life flows." - Nisargadatta Maharaj, p. 269 "I Am That"

Stan has a nice way of putting it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcQm7xnwrLQ

So does Sal: http://www.liberationis.com

Some of the nicest drums on the planet: http://www.drumskulldrums.com/index.php

Terence uses the English language in a beautiful way: http://archive.org/details/PsychedeliaRawArchivesOfTerenceMckennaTalks

Positive stories: http://www.yesmagazine.org

The teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj and Psilocybe cubensis are worth paying attention to, as are the teachings of cats and flowers

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stillness and music

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, India, Mexico, Russian Federation, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam

• 

•