Questions.

I found a list of similar questions that an alternative college on an island where I used to live was asking of their faculty and loved the thoughts they brought up.  I want to ask these questions to everyone I meet. . .and so I started with myself. . .

• Where did you accomplish your most important learning?

through books, in the garden and kitchen with my mum, in asanas around the world, and solitary moments on mountaintops

• What is your work here in the world?

so much.  everything i do is part of my “work” here in the world. . . every smile at a stranger, every phone call to my beautiful mum, every client i counsel, every yoga posture i sink a bit more into.  . . it’s all part of my work here.  we are here to love, heal, laugh, create, savor, push, pull, drink in each individual sunset, and change whatever we can in our own small corners so that the ripple effect reaches in ways we’ll ever fully see . . .

when i chose my high school yearbook quote i remember being puzzled by it instantly, not entirely sure why i had chosen it (except that i loved f.scott fitzgerald) but knowing that it had meaning that would someday fully reveal itself:  “it was a stream where he was to throw a stone whose faint ripples would be vanishing almost as soon as it left his hand”. . .. vanishing because they were already on their way to places he hadn’t yet imagined. . .

• Why do you work at what you do?

because i’m inspired by those i work with and i think all of us have a responsibility to serve the world (in a non-altruistic way) as best we can while savoring the incredible everyday moments

• How long have you been part of the world community? What has changed in your lifetime?

just 30 years in June. .  and i’ve seen so many of the usual and organic ebbs and flows but it still never ceases to almost drop me to my knees in amazement.  i also remember when facebook didn’t exist, nobody had cell phones and i remember when email was a novelty.

• If your current neighborhood community were pieces of fruit, you’d have a neighborhood full of …

deliciousness. . .

• What is the most significant challenge the current generation  faces?

learning to accept responsibility for becoming strong and authentic men and women who will teach the next generations. . .http://bit.ly/ahdOrl

• Where are your roots?

atlantic roots. . . entwined evergreen, salt water, rich soil. . .Maine

• Ocean or mountains?

can i have both?

but if pushed to choose, i feel the ocean calling me when i’m away from her

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• Where do you like to do your work?

so many places, in city lofts, in sun-filled backyards, at long wooden tables with others, on the floor working on hanuman or pigeon poses, under fluffy down comforters, in candlelit kitchens with tea or stews simmering. . .

• Which books do you keep on your desk, in your pocket, on your nightstand?

i’m sort of a nomad now so my books are mostly packed away in various locations, and i have a really hard time narrowing it down to a handful of favourites. . . but Ahab’s Wife, The Bhagavad Gita, The Sun Also Rises, foodie type books especially if they’re about local, organic, whole and slow food movements. . .

• What can’t you live without?

an extra fine black pilot pen and a moleskin notebook.  . . sadly my iphone is on that list right now (because it’s a notebook, camera, map and music player) and a sense of adventure

• What brings you joy?

so many things.  it’s absolutely amazing how much in this life has the ability to bring joy and how much capacity for joy we all have. . .  it thrills me to my marrow (to take a line from CSN&Y)

• What does ‘green’ mean to you?

living with common sense and simplicity.  whole, real, interconnected, conscientious and conscious. . .

• What’s the craziest, loveliest idea you’ve had/heard as of late?

leaving the sticky new york city heat and journeying to maine for a week and then hopping across the ocean to paris for another week.  . .