About Me. Oh boy. That's a hard question for a meditator.
"What is me?" is the question one is encouraged to ask, moment, to moment.
I was born in New Zealand, the land of plenty (of fish n chips). I was raised by an internationally travelling family, went to good schools, and always had a plentiful abundance of food, clothing shelter, medicine, toys, hobbies, friends.
I did the academic thing - great grades & a good honours degree.
I did the anarchist thing & the music thing, the theatre thing - Red Mole... the dance thing...contact improvisation... Japan...the butoh thing...The live overseas thing, and of course the Fall in Love thing..
I was 23 by then, and none of it was quite right, i couldn't be happy...because I felt wrong. Something felt wrong in me, not in the activities or on the material plane. Though I have had it good materially, I have tended toward depression & a sense of unhappiness throughout life.
After the 'heart break thing' in 2006, my boat was sinking, so i joined the brave on a 10 day silent Goenka Vipassana Meditation Retreat in Japan. The clarity and logic of uncovering how the mind, body and emotions work, through Mindfulness & Equanimity, filled my heart. For the first time i had met something that felt close to truth.
About six months later I met Achariya Doug Duncan in Kyoto, Japan. To me he is a living spiritual master, a wonderful teacher, who I continue to learn so much from.
I used to think gardening was the most boring thing in the world. Then came all the talk in the media about peak oil, climate change, economic catastrophes and on and on...the Chinese half of my genetics kicked in and I started seeing the link between food, agriculture, oil and life! The interest and passion is growing. I'm amazed that this globe trotting city girl can now find joy in the miraculous growth of plants, the stillness of the air, riding horses, being in one place.
The learning, the unfoldment, the awakening continues, in this vein for now.
Thanks ;)
