Introducing Myself: Hello Steemit!

I thought I’d give Steemit a try, largely because of my friend @Kennyskitchen profuse and never-ending enthusiasm for it. So here’s my intro.

My primary passion—beyond the nuts and bolts of social and eco-justice—has been discovering ways to transition our human culture from one of power over/under to one of power with/within. Until a couple of years ago, I facilitated a lot of workshops (on a gift economy) using techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed, teambuilding games, various community-building and connection-building techniques, and elements of some personal growth modalities. Soon, maybe, I’ll be starting these up again. They’re always offered on a gift economy, so if you have a group that would like to play (i.e. practice any or all of these things) hit me up.

I’m also passionate to see how far we as a human culture can move beyond anthropocentrism—how far we can extend our empathy out to that which seems so different than ourselves. I suspect that our overall cultural evolution actually lies in our ability to truly engage our empathy—to rejoin the web of life instead of holding ourselves outside it.

Other things I'm active in include a fair amount of social justice issues (lately mostly in the Middle East), permaculture, growing my own food, hitchhiking, photography, and farm life. I’m a lover of Wilderness (both within and without), symbiosis, and systems theory (and the high-functioning anarchy that makes systems go round).

I live in a rural community in the bio-region of Cascadia (which many call Oregon). We make decisions by consensus and the property is owned in common--yay!

To get to know me better, here's a bit I wrote when looking for playmates a few years ago:

Deep Within/Far Beyond

Looking to dance with someone(s) through the deep within to the far beyond and back again. We come to one another having lived lives full of awe and wonder, and finding ourselves continually thankful. We Fly and Fall with equal abandon, both the Fool and the Magician (and much else) in our Journeys, knowing we are at choice in all that we do and think.

Excited by the unknown and yet loving the known, we dance re-discovering the Shadows that follow us, and following our Curiosity. We pursue with full hearts and great courage that which is authentic, alive, and true. We continually set our compass-headings towards Joy.

Infused with passion, and knowing deep in our bones that ‘community’ includes far more than humans and ‘sustainability’ goes far beyond recycling, we dance a dance of freedom, of love, of commitment, and of healing to ourselves and to the greater Community—to all our relations.

We are lovers of the deserts, oceans, forests, and mountains, and dance ever in the celebration of the Wild, both within and without. We love the lands of Cascadia--of coyote, salal, and cedar, of salmon, osprey, and huckleberry, of undamned rivers, ancient forests, and secret, wild places. And so much more.

Along the way, we flow with the companion dances of yin and yang, verbal and non-verbal communication, and the sound of silence, all the while enjoying the emotional and soul literacy our past and present relationships bring us.

Can you meet me in this dance? It is not a dance for the faint of heart, those afraid of truth, or for those carrying heavy burdens on their backs from past dances. We pack light, and yet with Awareness and Delight.
Dance well in whatever dance you choose.

(Two of my loves: wilderness and photography)

(Two of my Bedouin friends in the West bank)

(Sometimes when I'm hitchhiking I end up in the most beautiful places!)