Hey there Hive community!
My good friend 
After (almost) 27 years of existing on this planet, I can feel that I'm at a ripe time in my life where I'm inquiring into the purpose of why I'm here on this Earth and what I am here to contribute and create with others.
After 7+ years of grinding in the bureaucratic trenches of public education, my current work resembles an octopus with tentacles in nonprofit organizations and activist spaces. I have a background in psychology, restorative justice, organizational development, conflict resolution and nonviolent activism studies, holistic health, and media studies. I love the outdoors, cooking creative and organic food, reading, spending hours on Final Cut Pro creating meaningful digital stories, learning from those who live unconventional and natural lifestyles. I have a tendency to laugh uncontrollably at inappropriate moments, which many people find strange and uncomfortable.
I love to practice yoga and dance (learning how to shuffle!), especially when I'm out in nature. Nature deeply frees me and helps me open up to my sacred feminine, which can be challenging for me (and many other women) to open up to. Here's a fun little montage of me doing exactly that:
As a child who experienced violent abuse and trauma, something that gave me comfort in the midst of chaos was knowing that there was always something larger out there for me to discover and be a part of, even if I didn't feel or sense it yet. This big picture feeling would show up in my body and in my tears, when dancing to music or sitting with a poem that hit deep in my soul. It would show up in spaces of community and meaningful connection with people who were freeing themselves from the status quo. It would eventually show up in many spiritual turning points in my life, when I've been on the brink of death or suffering, and emerged out of those experiences literally alive, without any answers or certainty of anything except feeling more committed and humble to my process than ever before.
I'm learning that the spiritual journey is rooted in sacrifice. The willingness to transcend beliefs and stories that keep us exclusively identified with our pain and fears from the past. When these die, they give birth to something greater and more possible than we could ever have imagined. Yet we have to be in the game with what we want, with the fierce vulnerability it takes to soften our defenses and honor our needs in real ways. I give thanks to the ways in which I feel beat and torn up by the process of healing because I know discomfort is needed for growth. I am eternally grateful for the people in my life that have served as mirrors and role models. I believe that awakening to the inner violence within ourselves is directly tied to the awakening and transcendence of the violence we see out in the world.
Thanks for tuning into this Hive community! Let's connect!!