My blogs

About me

Gender	Female
Industry	Student
Occupation	Doctor of Science in Oriental Medicine candidate
Location	Portland, Oregon, United States
Introduction	Connected. Intense. Grounded. Playful. A romantic. Heart on the sleeve. Insatiable curiosity. In love with the natural world. Strongly bonded to family. Tomboy. Nerd. Conversationalist. Free- spirit. Sentimental. Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Comfortable in my skin. Klutz with chutzpah. Fierceless defender of animals. On an ever-so-humbling journey to live fully, authentically, and powerfully.
Interests	Upcycled art, kayaking, hiking, cycling, sports (tennis, softball, soccer), wildlife conservation and habitat restoration. I relish bringing a creative spirit to all I do, whether in the garden, looking at a blank canvas, dancing, writing a story, making a meal from the smattering of ingredients in the cupboard or taking part in a work meeting. I like a good challenge, I like to shake things up and I like living a relatively unconventional life. I’ve been vegan for 22 years – it’s a commitment that runs deep and a journey that has brought extraordinary insight into myself and the ways of the world. Having dabbled in various artistic forms over the past 15-20 years, I resonate most with upcycling and found object art. I love experimenting with a rusted washer or the backing of postal stamps or the metallic casing of a tea bag, pondering their stories and giving them a second life. In recent years, I have taken memoirs, screenwriting, drawing and acrylics classes. I authored “Dani’s Diary” column for publication Veg News Magazine from 2000-2004, have written hundreds of letters to legislators about various social justice issues, taught women in recovery mind body dance (Nia) and am presently co-authoring a book (with my identical twin sister) about LGBTQ twins and their siblings. It is one of the most exhilarating projects I have ever dabbled in. I taught global ethical issues to young people for 15 years, largely through the creation of my organization Seeds for Change, trained graduate students how to bring humane education into their communities and gravitate to pilot and ahead-of-the curve-oriented initiatives. I hail from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (go Brewers!) and have a soft spot for thunderstorms and crickets chirping on warm summer nights. I can’t get enough green which is largely why I sojourned to the Pacific Northwest.