I like hiking and being in nature. I like rock climbing and spelunking. I like to drum with others, and play my digeridoo. I love Rainbow Gatherings. I like to dance to trance music and go to raves.
I love the sound of spoken Amharic, and the singing of the man who called the faithful to prayer in the mosque behind the hostel I stayed at in Johor Baharu.
Baraka, American Beauty, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the original Star Wars trilogy, Braveheart, The English Patient, Ararat, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Big Blue, The Thin Red Line, La Haine.
Television
HBO's "The Wire", the PBS investigative journalism series "Frontline".
I also like NBC's "Survivor". I like how the contestants in "Survivor" act out some of our collective issues as a society, so that to some degree we're working out our issues and growing as a culture through them. It also really helps me to appreciate humans and gain insight into our interpersonal dynamics. I feel that reading Frans de Waal's "Chimpanzee Politics" really helped me to appreciate "Survivor", as a tool to better understand how we humans function as groups, how we can succeed or fail to function effectively.
I haven't had a TV where I live for about two years.
"The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell, "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, "The Healing of America" by Marianne Williamson, "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien, "To be a Man" edited by Keith Thompson,
"The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki, "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, "If You're Afraid of the Dark - Remember the Night Rainbow" by Cooper Edens, and "The Lorax", by Dr. Suess.
Heroes
In terms of people who I honor as heros for having done great things for the good of the whole, my heros are Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy. They each empowered all of us, and led the way to our higher selves, showing us what we could be, and in doing so made us as a people more beautiful.
In terms of someone who I use as an example to inspire me to fulfill my own potential, my hero is Carl Jung, because he was truly brilliant, and he was able to give his brilliance to the world in a way that really had an impact.
I'm into exploring life. I like playing games with ways or perceiving life, and interacting with others. I appreciate art and beauty.
I'm pretty capable of removing myself from my material wants, and in many ways I live a pretty austere life. I focus on the things that matter to me.
I care about the world, and I want to make a difference. I want to help us as a society get to a place where we are collectively conscious, where what we do as whole is a expression of all of our conscious intentions.
I'm a good listener. I can look at anyone, and see their beauty. I am in reverence of virtually all people. I can feel that it is such a gift to simply be in their presence and interact with them.
I'm a vegetarian and I'm environmentaly oriented. I pay attention to how the choices I make affect the world.
I'm psychologically oriented. I look at the world through the lens of looking for the deep causes behind people's actions and feelings. I'm introspective.
My entire life, since before I was old enough to be aware of social pressures, I've been resilient to them. As a little kid, I took on the role of "weirdo" to gain a sense of identity. I've always defined myself in terms of what makes me unique. It's always been important to me to express myself for who I am.
I feel that my greatest strength is my brilliance, especially my ability to look at situations from a unique perspective, and come up with unique insights on problems that allow me to approach them from non-obvious directions.
I feel that my greatest weakness is how I am drawn to retreat from life because it creates too much anxiety for me. I can escape into computer games for hours on end until I lose all awareness of my passions and what's important to me.
My AIM screen name is Striving8.
Who I'd like to meet:
I want meet others who appreciate art and beauty. I want to meet people who listen to the secret voices of the trees and the stones, and see things that others do not.
I want to meet people who can dance with me in the rain, and play games with me.
I want to meet people who are intelligent, who can explore ideas, and new ways of seeing things, and make art with the subtle implications and associations of things they say.
I want to meet people who I can commune with, people who can openly and honestly express where they are coming from, and how they feel about things, without holding anything back, and who can listen to me in the same way.
I want to meet people who are liberated in their personhoods, people who know themselves, and love themselves, and are completely unashamed to express themselves in the world for who they truly are.
I want to meet people who feel committed to helping others, and the world, people who have that flame of passion within them.
Hey man!!! Its been way too long. Let me know when you're free and lets hang out. I miss seeing you all the time. How about hiking again with Tree Paul? What do you say?
O Robin, i was just looking at your pictures. Little slices of the adventures that have come to past. I cant wait to create more. Something about them all seems to pronouce life.
I've been reading works by an author who I think you'd really enjoy. His name is Derrick Jensen. The works I have read are "A Language Older Than Words" which deals with our culture of abuse and is a personal testament to the violence in the authors family that is a microcosm of the greater violence of civilization at large. Now I am reading "Endgame: The Problem of Civilization" which is built on a series of premises such as "Civilization is not and can never be sustainable. This is especially true of industrial civilization." and "The needs of the natural world are more important than the needs of any economic system." Although not at all uplifting, these books are incredibly important. If you have not encountered his work yet, I hope you find time for it now! Hope you're well, Robin! Drop me a line when you have time. I want to come over and go hiking... unless you would like to come to seattle!
