Untameable Woman
During the earlier years of my childhood, my mother and I moved from one town to the next in Southern California. Yet, I was able to stay in the same elementary school which I am ever so grateful for because I have a dear girlfriend to this day. In my adolescence, we made a home in Northern California and this is where my curiosity about people’s lives and other cultures was born. My first travel abroad was to England where my grandmother was born. My grandmother Kay was delighted that her only grandchild was to visit the place she held close to her heart. In 1993, I spent three months in Metz France working at The California Café in exchange for room and board. I created my own tour de France and visited many cities all the while perfecting my French. I returned to Northern California and started working in women’s health at Planned Parenthood. During this time, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Psychology. In 2001, I began working on my Master’s degree in social work. The first year I interned with a hospice, end of life care, and the second year I interned providing individual counseling and group process. Upon my graduation, I moved to Hollywood and worked with homeless youth.
In 2006, I took a break from my career and set out to continue my dream of travel. I closed my apartment, sold my car, packed my backpack and landed in Thailand. Months later, I traveled on to India where I read many books, practiced yoga and meditation. I then unpacked my backpack and lived close to one year in Israel where I studied Hebrew at a kibbutz and stayed with family. My passion to travel and immerse myself in other cultures was not to be concluded just yet. The Caribbean of Costa Rica called and there I settled in. A friend and I built a restaurant in Playa Chiquita. Most of my days consisted of riding my bike through the one paved street in the jungle to pick up needed fresh vegetables to prepare delicious Middle Eastern food, serve our guests, all the while talking and learning with people from all over the world! Five years later, I became a mother to a healthy and fabulous little girl!
For the last five years in Southern California, I have been in sales and marketing for a senior living community. This community life offers independent living, assisted living and memory care for seniors. I find inspiration from our elders as they have endured aging and have much wisdom to share. In return, I share my love, respect and admiration. To this day, I learn from my mother and step mother, Two Grace of No Age Goddesses who my daughter and I share our lives with closely. I am an empath, a mother, a nature lover who loves to camp and hike, a major salad consumer, yoga practitioner, a cribbage player. The practice of awareness, simplicity and gratitude is key to mother earth, community and one’s home.
