“Sorrow shared is half sorrow, happiness shared is double happiness”.
– Chinese proverb
This will be my first year with Teen Journey and I’m thrilled, honored and grateful to be welcomed into this community.
I’m a dancer, gypsy & nurturer by nature; a fierce heart-warrior, a wimp in the cold & a goof ball. I prefer lakes to swimming pools, rubber boots & work pants to heels & dress shirts, documentaries to rom-coms & herbal tea to coffee (although only because caffeine makes my hormones go all wacky). I geek-out over interpersonal neurobiology (cool brain stuff) & recently joined a Sacred Hunting & Primitive Skills Mentorship Program. I have studied forestry, Traditional Chinese Medicine & restorative justice practices. I have filmed documentary footage in Ireland & Boliva, co-lead outdoor teen adventure programs & waitressed for years to pay off school debt. I share Nonviolent Communication practices with men & woman living in prison, have shaved my head, enjoyed various adventures of silent meditation, been scared to death by a nest-protecting burglar snake in the jungles of Costa Rica & walked away from two vehicle roll-over incidences. I have lived out of a truck, a van, a car, a tool shed, a dry-docked boat & a tent; a swank apartment in San Francisco, north of the Arctic Circle with 50 sled-dogs & have been technically on-the road for 2.5 years now. I have ‘messed-up’, suffered from bouts of intense anxiety, questioned my worth & have been unable to reach out for support in times when I’ve needed it the most. I’ve cried more tears then I can count & laughed so hard I spit my food out. I have unintentionally lied about my age (for a 6 month period of time!) and intensely appreciate well-organized spaces & systems (sometimes to a slightly OCD degree – which can actually be quite handy).
I feel most at home in natural & wild spaces but deeply appreciate the comfort & ease that modern conveniences have allotted me.
Making choices that support the sustainability of our planet & plant & animal communities only makes sense to me as well as co-creating relationships of trust, honesty & encouragement & ways of living in community that reflect our intrinsic interdependence and equality.
During Teen Journey (and after) I invite you to dance with me, laugh with me, cry with me, scream with me. Be silent with me, walk with me, rest with me, dream with me, sing with me, breath with me. Be honest with me, learn with me, and create with me. I trust that through this way of being in community we will reawaken powerful parts of ourselves that have slipped into slumber & that we will begin to remember and know more fully who we each are and the beauty we bring to the world
I look forward to meeting each and every one of you.