Photo by Collete Debarros for Renaisance Magazine

You in a word -

Compassionate. Courageous. Devoted.

On you –

San Francisco, California. Marin County raised.
Boulder Colorado home for now. But I am truly a gypsy at heart with a real ability to make wherever I am home. So I have a hunch there will be some more adventures that I will call ‘home’!

On purpose and motivation –

For the past 13 years I have been deeply immersed in the art of conscious motherhood. It is the greatest spiritual practice I have yet to encounter. So my doing at present has a lot to do with that.
In the bigger picture I am motivated by goodness. Fairness. Equality. Ethics. Morality. Integrity. And a lot of what I do is about naming those injustices. Being a voice where people have become complacent and shining a light on that which has been normalized. So these are the motivating purposes for me.

On a moment of transformation –

I have so many but the start of my awakening came after much internal suffering that produced a heart issue that needed surgery. It was a moment of both realizing how I had been living (in my own prison of anorexia dictated by many false beliefs that were not even my own but a culture and an industry and a wounded mother's)and how I wanted to be living/Ultimately free. Free of constructs, limiting beliefs, and creating a life that was mine. I decided to embark on my first humanitarian mission to Nepal. And it was truly in this doing, taking the obsessive focus off of just myself and broadening my view, my perspective, that my life began to change. To have the experience of travel, trekking, giving back, of course I helped others but it was in the doing of this process that I helped myself. I had to get out of my comfort zone and get out of my own way. I had to forge new pathways. I began to see the value in this. The importance of exploration, both within and without. And the growth that came from these actions. Ultimately I returned to the US and I was free, recovered from not only my eating disorder but those limiting beliefs. I began to step into the power and purpose of my life, understanding that I might have no control of the turns in the road but I do of my view and perspective.

Photo by Collete Debarros for Renaisance Magazine

On a formative memory of place-

When, at 17, after having been a teen runaway, a model in NY, France, Italy and Germany, that I returned to NorCal and met my mentor Lama Tsultrim Allione. That was my introduction to Tibetan Buddhism… and it was the first time in this life time that I no longer felt homesick. My practice and my wonderful teachers inform everything I do today. So really, my deep devotion and faith in goodness and love is what guides me today.

On your mantra-

Literal mantras are that of Tara. She is a recognized Buddha. FEMALE. And there are 21 emanations of her… to address all different situations. In Buddhism she is really the ‘go to’ Goddess. Also, as I have experienced and is a teaching in Buddhism, The kindness of Strangers is always close to heart:
When we develop equanimity we can overcome our attachment, anger and apathy and have equal-hearted concern for all beings.
When I was in Nepal I became very ill while trekking. Had it not been for the kindness of the people there I might not have had survived. I recall a warm blanket. A gentle hand. A caring human when I felt so ill and alone. Someone who cared enough to offer me hot tea.

As well when I was in deep despair and in a hospital, unsure of how to proceed in my life because I was in a domestic abuse situation, Ali MacGraw came to visit me ( a friend of a friends). She was like an angel that arrived. Had gone through something similar with Steve McQueen at about the same age I was (early 20’s). This act of kindness, realizing you are not alone, that there are angels and protectors, an entire universe that has your back… To find hope when one is hopeless, love when one feels unloved… these lessons were and are so powerful.

On life -

Presence. Compassion Remaining heart centered and available especially for my daughters.

On your favorite funny thing-

Probably our animals. They are all hilarious. Three of our pets passed in this last year and while heartbreaking, the pack is still big with 2 pugs, one cat and a bird. There is no shortage of hilarious moments in our household.

On ARTICLE22-

The story. The mission. The bad assed giving back and commitment to the people. The example it sets to tell the truth, the story and history that many people don’t know and actually do good in a concrete and real way. Sustainability. Global tribe.

Photo by Collete Debarros for Renaisance Magazine