CURRENT MISSION

To approach life with a beginner's mind; to do whatever it is that I must - that I could not live without; and to forgive myself whenever I forget.

ABOUT ME

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there."

― Rumi

I am trying to find this field without trying too hard :)

More concretely, I am in my post-college years, with a sense of exploration after so much structure in my life up to this point. For work, I did a year with AmeriCorps last year in Phoenix, AZ, and am now doing a teaching fellowship at my high school in San Francisco. I am interested in education, service, psychology, leadership and empowerment - a tribute to my Berkeley education (or "so Berkeley".) I love singing, being outside and active, feeling adventurous and meditative, dancing to bluegrass music, and rocking overalls.
I also love paradoxes.

PHILOSOPHY

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves liked locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
~Rainer Maria Rilke

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I couch-surfed in Scotland and hosted surfers when I spent a year abroad in Ireland during college. I couched surfed in Tuscon while living in Phoenix, AZ for AmeriCorps. I am unable to host surfers at the moment, but I want to pay it forward by sharing a coffee at the many amazing cafes in SF!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

-surfed in Edinburgh, Scotland; hosted in Cork, Ireland.
-surfed in Tuscon, AZ; hosted in Phoenix, AZ.

The best experience I've had so far was surfing with a girl in Edinborough who took the time to walk with me through parks, bake cookies in the restaurant where she worked, and take me out to pubs where I sang some Irish folk songs I had learned across the sea,in Ireland. It was my first surfing experience and she encouraged me to get up and sing, for which I am very grateful - my hope is to similarly bring out the creativity and soul in others on my couch and in my life!

Interests

walking in the rain, singing, biking, running, playing soccer in Golden Gate Park, yoga, picnics, brunch, meditation, climbing trees and on rooftops when the opportunity arises...

• books
• singing
• dancing
• education
• coffee
• yoga
• marathon
• running
• meditation
• walking
• pub crawls
• music
• piano
• cycling
• surfing
• rock climbing
• soccer
• teaching
• psychology
• parks
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Siddartha
The Alchemist
The Tao of Pooh

"Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke
"The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Allan Watts
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz
"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin
"The Bodacious Book of Succulence" by SARK

"I Am" Documentary by Tom Shadyac
"What the Bleep do we Know?" by...someone :)

Ingrid Michaelson
Brett Dennen
Joshua Radin
Ben Folds
Fleetwood Mac
Bluegrass
(Wearing)Overalls

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I ran a half marathon on a winding one-lane street where green rolling hills collided with royal blue ocean and wild heather in Glengarriff, County Kerry, Ireland, with locals cheering and children holding colorful signs - the easiest 13.5 miles I've ever run!

Teach, Learn, Share

i can teach you how to play piano or sing, or tap 2 difficult rhythms on your thigh simultaeously. or how to hula hoop. or how to scoop a perfectly round scoop of ice cream. i can share my smile, and my lunch. i want to learn so much, and will admit what i don't know always in order to do it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, United States