I’m edging on 70 (getting close to my birthday in October when I reach that milestone), and I’m starting to take myself more seriously — or not! I want to cultivate my person more, create more for others to see and read. I’m coming back to this website after letting it lie fallow for many years. I’ve been discouraged by the continually upgrading features of WordPress, which require a little more tech savvy than I’ve got. However, I’m in a learning mode right now, so I’m tackling it.
My identity today is shaped more by the reality of being a resident of this planet than by nationality, but there’s no getting away from my being an American, no more than I can ever change my core of having been raised as a Catholic, even if I am aligned more with Buddhism at this stage in my life.
I know that I’ve been privileged by being a white woman who has a good education, but I have been forged as much by being a dissident and peace activist, resisting the militarism that has been ever more prevalent. Still, I consider myself a Daughter of the Earth, and SHE has my primary loyalty, not the United States of America, which has done so much to harm her. Once a person understands this much about me, everything else falls in place.
I’m not mysterious. I’m very open. All that said, I’m quite a complex person with many facets to who I am, and I’m continually changing and evolving. I traveled the world for seven years, living in a number of other countries to expand my perspective and experience other cultures and different ways of living. Primarily I’ve made my living as an ESL teacher. I’ve been retired since I had cancer in 2016, grateful for every day that I get to enjoy since then.
What defines me today? I consider myself a peace visionary. This doesn’t mean that I’m always the most peaceful person; I’ve got a hell of a temper. Still, I don’t go around killing people, and I do think that’s got to stop, especially since warfare has been such a lucrative industry, and somehow we’ve got to change that.
I also think of myself as a pioneer on the borders of the unknown within us. So I devote myself to understanding my dreams. I’m into visioning and daydreaming. Here in Patzcuaro, where I’ve been living the past five years, summer is the rainy season. Listening to the rain makes me feel dreamy and is conducive to reflective thinking.
So I ponder who we are. Are people basically animals, instinctual as well as aspirational? Are we stardust? Is our reality a holographic projection? Are our dreams more real than our waking state? Are we multidimensional beings?
If so, what are we doing on this planet? Why does it seem like this is all there is? Are our dreams a portal to awareness of other realities? How important are dreams? Can we travel in time and space?
Are we part of this planet or are we parasites? What’s the true nature of reality? How can we shift consciousness? How can we explore and impact the unified field of energy? How can we shift paradigms and evolve? Is that even possible or are we heading down a doomsday path? If we can choose our timeline by activating awareness and shaping reality, what’s effective in creating systems?
I’m kind of an undisciplined Internet junkie, continually getting stimulated and excited about what I discover, but not taking the time to really establish my own presence. I like to correspond with friends and comment on other people’s writing. This swallows enormous amounts of my time. Then I consciously have to live a real life. If I never had to eat, the chances of this happening would be much worse. At least eating keeps me connected to my physical body.
Sleeping is the direct opposite, although it’s also a physical need. However, sleeping takes me into other realities and dimensions. Sometimes it’s marvelous and other times it’s a lot of work and unsettling. Usually it’s still interesting even if I don’t like what’s happening in the dream.
If this doesn’t seem quite what you expected when you set out to learn more about who I am, it might be helpful to understand what a strong influence Carl Jung had on me and what I consider important. I took two years to read his book, “Memories, Dreams and Reflections”, thinking about what he wrote a great deal, and meeting him in my dreams as he continued to teach me. Same with Teilhard de Chardin.
I learned from both of them that the inner life of the soul is just as important as our external life. However, for my readers who would like more details about my outer life, I am sharing the following list:
- Never married, but had a natural son, who married a woman in China, but has been living with her in the U.S. for several years now. I am blessed with two grandchildren by them, one born just a few days ago as I write this on July 14, 2023.
- Although I was never married, I have been in love many times.
- Well educated. Master’s degree in TESOL from Michigan State University, Journalism degree from San Diego State University, Library Tech Certification from Pasadena City College.
- Made my living primarily as an office worker and English teacher, although I’ve also sold real estate, been a pizza chef, made sound recordings, created gemstone jewelry and healing layouts with gemstones, sold real estate and advertising, and pursued other ways of making money.
- Writer, but I haven’t established myself yet.
- Photographer. Still amateur, but photoshoots are my favorite activity, that and editing my photos, creating reels, and playing with new ways to use photos. Starting a social media photography business right now.
- Speaker, and enjoy speaking before large gatherings. I haven’t done that for several years, though.
- Musician, although not a particularly good one. I like to sing, and have often sung with choirs. I also play piano and drum. On occasion I have written songs and composed music. I love to listen to music, and follow performers in several genres.
- Linguist; studying languages is my favorite pastime. I’m fairly fluent in Spanish, brushing up presently on my French, having great fun learning Italian, working my way up the levels in German. I have also studied Chinese and Russian, although not much lately. I am no longer a beginner in any of these languages.
- Intellectual. Life-long learner. Passionate about research. Eclectic in pursuing many interests. Generalist. Avid reader. Followed events in Russia, China and Japan for decades. Dedicated to learning the truth of our history. Want to know enough of the facts to discern hyperbole and obfuscation when I read or hear it. Fascinated by cross-cultural communication.
- Gardener. I’ve lived in this house in Patzcuaro almost two years now, where I have a patio garden with most of my plants in pots outside, as well as a few houseplants indoors. I love my plants and feel motherly towards them.
- Traveler. Explorer. Perennial tourist. Planning a major world tour across Eurasia in 2025.
- Peace activist. Determined to see peace in the world during my lifetime and an end to war.
- Environmentalist. That sounds so serious, but it’s an ongoing interest from the time that I was a teenager. How can we live in peace and harmony, in balance with nature?
- Feminist. Always challenged by how women can come into power, and more particularly, how I can walk a path of power as a woman, and realize my full potential.
- Friend. I have been blessed with many friends over the years, although moving around the way that I have in my nomadic life, some of those friends have come and gone. Others are friends from childhood. Some are friends in other countries who I have never met in person, but nevertheless they are good friends, and for some, it’s going on two or three decades of getting to know each other better through the magic of the Internet. I consider myself a good friend. Since I never married, my friends are really important to me. I have a habit of making new friends, although some of those friendships don’t work out, especially with the love interests in my life. I devote much of my time to staying in touch with my friends.