All my life I have been an observer, an outsider, if you will. At age seven, I cut off my hair to join the boys, as I hoped that a little gender deception would ensure my freedom to climb to the highest branches of the tall oak trees in my neighborhood on the cliffs above the sea in southern California. Nature is my source, my God, whether I am watching the hawks and dolphins, or hiking the mountains to the sea where the beauty is palpable in the breath of birdsong, and the expanse of delicate and fibrous clouds stretching across the waning moon of morning. We are losing that connection today in the cities, and I know I for one am much happier and saner when I can feel the elixir of wet summer grass beneath my toes.

At the age of fifteen I helped establish the youth division of the Humane Society of the United States, and traveled abroad to teach meditation and creative visualization. Through my visioning, at sixteen years old I was called to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where I went onstage just before the Dalai Lama, talking to the thousands of people gathered there about the immortality of our spirits, and the importance of protecting our beloved planet.

In my late teens, I would, through synchronicity and some creative ingenuity on my part come to befriend, and ultimately be mentored by novelist Tom Robbins, a journey that has both toughened my resolve to improve my writing, and given me a friendship where I can ask the hard questions about art, for as Tom says, "Art is to give us what life does not". Tom is a wily teacher, crafty, definite, and no softy when it comes to the hard work of words. We have exchanged over 40 letters over the years, and they are all more magical than the last, as you can well imagine, from the author of Jitterbug Perfume, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and Another Roadside Attraction, to name a few. And if you think you have never heard of him, you probably know his quote, "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

In my twenties, I found yoga, which began a journey of deep exploration in consciousness, breath, and power. I cannot recommend enough taking up a yoga practice if you have not yet begun. It is the one reliable sanctuary that has been my deep keel through years of struggle, hardship, and challenge as I have been establishing myself as a writer. I can honestly say that without yoga, I might have sought my muse in self-destructive tendencies instead of the inspirational realm of devotion and breath. As a teacher, I encourage other artists to discover the riches of eastern traditions, philosophies, and practices.

Since I am a Scorpio born in the year of the Rabbit, I connect to my inner compass through tarot readings and morning meditations, and consulting my inner guides; it is in intuition and instinct I find my way, as if by the light of the moon. I'm fascinated by the stars and planets, and have even designed a special lunar calendar that marks the important passages of sacred Pagan holidays. When not traveling abroad, I am a recluse, and an amateur mystic. Year after year, I re-commit to the hard work of building my vision, for myself and for the world. It is a vision that embraces children as equals, expects that the Earth be adored and respected, honors animals as brethren, holds that all women are deserving of respect, and places art and music and theatre as more sacred than war, threat, and violence. I want to see humanity nurtured at a soul level. I view perpetrators as simply undernourished people, starving for love, connection, and peace. When our children are loved and safe and educated, our world will have an era of peace.

Although my passport says I am American, I can reassure you that I was merely a Greek soul re-assigned to this body and place of birth. In coming years, I will return to what I feel is my home country of Greece to open a retreat center near Epidavros focused on writing, art, yoga, theatre, and sacred ceremony in honor of the return of Goddess energy on our planet.

Starting in 2009 I will begin a college speaking circuit, which I will be building upon once my novel is published, to inspire youth to find and activate their life-purpose.

We have a lot of work to do together in coming years. We must each free ourselves of internal afflictions inherited from the sleepers who came before us through the lineage of the pain passed to us from our ancestors and do our best to heal ourselves from the agony we have often endured in this life. Then we can come together, and create a new world with peace as its foundation, and love as its doors, empathy as its gates. I really believe you just don't get anywhere in life without mastering yourself on some level, committing to your dreams and to faith in them again and again, and persevering through the challenges that befall you, ultimately to see them as teachers. In this way we can see that others are ourselves, and connection can be born in communities where we not only live but thrive in non-violence, ahimsa. This is the true journey of consciousness… embrace.

The guiding light of my life has been this prayer I say every morning. I etch it here for you in cyber space:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu,
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sakshat, Parham Brahma
Tash Mishri Guruvey, Namaha
  
Translation: I offer all of my efforts to that teacher which is this life I have been brought into, to that teacher which is this life I continue to lead, and to those teachers which are all manner of trials, challenges, sicknesses, and heartbreaks that befall me on my path. I offer all of my efforts to that teacher that lives within me, and to that teacher who lives beyond the beyond, formless, and supreme.