CURRENT MISSION

Love...

ABOUT ME

This is how I live my life - down to the last word. I love, with every fiber of my being.

"I may not know who you are, but I love you. I love you." - V for Vendetta

"Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of humankind.

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of people.
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living."

~ Bertrand Russell

PHILOSOPHY

LOVE.

All of these quotes guide me in life. As far as principles go, I'm heavily influenced by Jainist/Taoist/Buddhist thinking and belief. Enjoy...!

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." ~ Lao Tzu

"I mean, the human race, we are a tribe, let's face it, and let's stop all this religious bullshit. I think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends, are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. Just drop it. We're all fucking animals, so let's just make some universal tribal beat. We're pagan. Let's just march." ~Bjork

"Only one religion will lead us to the love we aim for, over the dark illusions of the warring nations." ~ R.X.R.A

"Happiness can be compared to a collection - and the best collections are the incomplete kind - for if it were ever to be completed, it would defeat the sole idea of collecting." ~ Susan Sontag

"War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent." ~ 1984

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought." ~ Buddha

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." ~ Rumi

"There is only one time when it is essential to awaken, and that moment is NOW." ~ Buddha

"Only a life lived for others is a life worth while."
~ Albert Einstein

"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." ~ Aeschylus

"Love is a slow form of suicide." ~ found somewhere

"Love means giving someone the power to destroy you, but trusting them not to." ~ Unknown

"Nostalgia for Utopia. Perhaps this is the impetus to travel; a yearning for a past one never had." ~ Isabel Fonseca

"There are no short-cuts to any place worth going."
~ Beverly Sills

"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." ~ Anais Nin

"Those who lack courage will always find a philosophy to justify it." ~ Albert Camus

"It's better to fail in originality, than succeed in imitation." ~ Herman Melville

"Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." ~ Winston Churchill

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety." ~ Ansel Adams

"It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't." ~ Paul Arden

"Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself." ~ Unknown

"I'm so close to the things that I want, yet so far from the things that I love." ~ Unknown

"If you want something deeply you will find a way to go. If you don't want anything deeply you will find reasons to stay." ~ Unknown

"There are no facts, only interpretations."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it is about learning to dance in the rain." ~ Unknown

"Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do." ~ Unknown

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." ~ Voltaire

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way youre right." ~ Henry Ford

"You give birth to that on which you fix your mind." ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." ~ Albert Einstein

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve." ~ W. Clement Stone

"You create your own universe as you go along." ~ Winston Churchill

"When you discover for yourself, however dimly, that you are rooted in something that is infinitely vast and potential, you have found the soil wherein you grow unconsciously into a most wonderful tree - the tree of life blended with knowledge."

"It is only when man realizes that there is in himself no centre around which he can build permanently, that he will begin to seek and can find that true centre, which is everywhere and nowhere."

"I am no more - and no less - than a law of life's expression."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host people, and am hosted in return. Its all about returning the love. Would love to get involved in other things too! :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted more times than I can count! I've been hosted quite a few times as well, and they were GREAT experiences!

Interests

LEARNING & TRAVELING, thinking, friends, talking, selflessness, cooking, writing, you, love - agape, foreign countries, being a vegetarian/vegan, languages, culture, people, animals and horseback riding, photography, fashion, creativity, passion, social networking, Türkiye, Couchsurfing, righting wrongs, human rights & social justice, news & current events, Istanbul, Budapest, big cities, Beyoğlu, organic farming, music, causes & activism, street markets & bazaars, reading, religion, Feminism, being intolerant of intolerant people, ending homophobia and human trafficking, Socialism & political systems, volunteering, anatomy and pathophysiology, Multi-culturalism & diversity, Washington D.C., the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Balkan and post communist countries, International & domestic presidential politics, meeting new people, long conversations, Turkish and Urdu pop music, live orchestras, theatre & opera, dancing & tango, driving, art & painting, anything uniquely unAmerican, a good cup of coffee, taking over the World, planning my photography career, spending hours with my Lonely Planet collection, geography, saying inappropriate things to conservative people, Making fun of Republicans, documentaries & independent music/film, playing the piano, rakı, white wine & Belgian beer, shopping, sex and sexuality, thunder/snow storms, cuddling, intensity, describing myself using quotes, closeness, energy, anything to do with the color white, smells, ambiguity, extremes, deciding what I want to be if I grow up, the internet, GLBTQ anything, spontaneity, economics and currency trading, exposing the Illuminati and NWO, bookstores, natural medicine and homeopathy, reiki and self healing, natural living, teaching English, tattoos, architecture, star signs and the Zodiac, The Law of Attraction, ghosts and ghost hunting, singing horribly at the top of my lungs, being outside, walking, beauty, sunrises, fresh fallen snow, water, connecting to people, finding a cure for Fibromyalgia, smiling, pharmacology,

• animals
• arts
• culture
• writing
• singing
• architecture
• fashion
• photography
• documentaries
• coloring
• beauty
• tattoos
• dancing
• tango
• causes
• human rights
• womens rights
• cooking
• wine
• white wine
• beer
• coffee
• vegetarian
• vegan
• running
• walking
• shopping
• politics
• news
• reading
• traveling
• blogging
• painting
• magic
• music
• piano
• opera
• equestrian
• hunting
• anatomy
• economics
• geography
• languages
• law
• medicine
• religion
• tourism
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Music:
Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Swedish House Mafia, Adele Alexandra Burke, Helena Paparizou, Beyonce, Stills, Umbrellas, Katy Perry, Loreena Mckennitt, Duffy, Stereophonics, Juli, Silbermond, Rosenstolz, The Flaming Lips, Justin Timberlake, , Gavin Mikhail, Nico Vega, Longwave, Snow Patrol, Muse, The Cranberries, Lady Gaga, All American Rejects, 30 Seconds to Mars, Simon & Garfunkel, Scissor Sisters, P!nk, Laura Pausini, Aerosmith, Tarkan, Evanescence, Howie Day, Amy Winehouse, Collective Soul, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Shakira, Fleetwood Mac, Nickelback, Fuel, Soraya, The Beatles, Shania Twain, Bliss 66, Enya, Dubstar, Jem, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bublé, Selena, Thalia, Elton John, Tonic, Robbie Williams, Cristian Castro, Carpenters, The Mamas and the Papas, The Corrs, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Celine Dion, Jo Dee Messina, Sigur Ros, LeAnn Rimes, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Sugarland, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Annie Lennox, Bjork, Il Divo, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon, Josh Groban, Cecila Bartoli, Imogen Heap, ABBA, Frou Frou, Alabina, Sugababes, Kelly Clarkson, Gipsyland, Jamie Cullum, Ann Lee, Hande Yener, Gül

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Climbed Mt. Sinai to see the sun rise! I'm sure there are other spectacular things I've done too...Maybe getting to know you will be one of them! =)

Create your own travel map or travel blog
Travel Info at TripAdvisor

Teach, Learn, Share

Exactly - teach. Learn. Share.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Nepal, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Egypt, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United States

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