About Me

Visionary… Dreamer… Observer… Believer… Living mindfully in and out of moments… Feeling and flowing with intuitive movement… Lover of deep thinking and meaningful conversations about the interconnectedness of the life we live and the stories we tell ourselves… Inspired by and immersed in the power of yoga as a vehicle of continual transformation… Always on an inward journey regardless of outer circumstances… Deeply moved by music and beautifully crafted words… Mesmerized and fascinated by tiny humans… Navigating life with the belief that love cannot be contained nor extinguished at will…

I love the sight of the Adriatic Sea sprawling over the horizon, and the excitement of driving down the windy roads of Mt. Velebit all the way to the shoreline. I love whiffs of dried pine needles in the scorching heat. The prickliness under my feet and sap on my fingers as I walk through an evergreen forest. I like tiptoeing over hot pebbles trying to find just the perfect spot to lay out my beach towel. I love how the sounds of guitar strumming send my heart into my throat. I like lying on the rocks on the beach and staring at the stars splattered all over the night sky. I love good scents, and the feeling of a nice smelling body right up against me. I like the flutters in my chest when someone speaks to me with their eyes, without saying a thing. I like long, tight hugs. And smiley eyes from across the room. I like listening to people’s stories of journeys that led them to right now. I like watching people blush and look away when they can barely contain the nervous excitement. I like the marks that signify the passage of time. The imperfections. The gray hair. The smooth skin marred by scars, grooves, blemishes, tattoos. I like watching hands at rest. I like watching faces light up when the energy shifts. I love teary eyes. I love a great smile and a contagious laugh. I like holding a face in my hands and looking into eyes that lead right into the person’s heart. I like anticipation. The pregnant silence. The feeling of my heart beating out of my chest when I’m with someone at the precipice of something beautiful…especially when it’s been a long time coming. I love how babies melt into a body that holds them. I love watching bodies that hold them. I like candlelight and the sounds of wind, rain and crickets. I like beautifully crafted sentences. I love tenderness. And snow covered everything.

(June 2022)

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I am…

Calm, focused, connected, purposeful, peaceful. Steady yet vibrant, grounded but ever-expanding, serene and joyful, and most of all, continually deeply grateful. Smoothly flowing between living fully in the moments—in this humanness allowing for all the feelings to be fully felt—and being a witness to it all, as if sitting outside of it and watching it all unfold. Finding that sweet comfort in knowing that I am neither my feelings nor thoughts nor my body (all of that is just something I have) but a being that gets to simultaneously enjoy life and watch it play out…this life-story built on my beliefs and choices manifested through different experiences that stack on top of each other in all these complex and intricate ways.

While I comfortably find myself embodying all of the above, I see all of those qualities as being on a continuum. Sometimes I think of those various places on the continuum as different tones of that same quality. It is a lifelong quest to attain the perfect brightness and depth of each.

Where does it all come from? Likely a combination of things: I’ve always been an old soul (I was one of those teenagers who collected quotes and thought about how the words could apply to my life); my mom was a great influence during my formative years; I stumbled upon my first Deepak Chopra book at seventeen; and at nineteen I read his son’s debut novel (Child of the Dawn by Gautama Chopra), which became the most pivotal book I had read up to that point. While fictional, the philosophy that I completely connected with seeped through on every page and that was it – it charted the course of my journey. I think that this largely unconventional life I have led is a manifestation of my approach to life and my way of being, and the books I’ve read have been an affirmation, rather than an inspiration for it. I’ve felt connected to many authors over the years, and often thought to myself: “I could have written this!” as the words on a page felt eerily familiar. That feeling, to this day, makes me feel held. It is the universe’s way of reminding me of the commonality of human experience and depths of awareness.

And with regards to things I don’t want to spend my energy on, when it comes to qualities of one’s way of being, those are the qualities I have consciously worked on overcoming so that they do not present a barrier to my own inner peace and lightness of being. Hence, I have little desire to continually work on warding off other people’s irritability, short fuse (frustration/anger), criticism (of self, others, society), and resentment. When this incoherent energy is around me, it shuts me down. I disconnect.

It is simple. I operate from a belief system that everyone does the best they can with what they have (be it open-mindedness, knowledge, skills). As people can only understand from their own level of awareness, I find that getting worked up over not being understood, falling into desperation, and/or criticizing others for what they do or don’t do, is futile and entirely unhelpful. I believe that you can’t rush someone’s growth or healing, nor can anyone be an agent of change for someone else. But one can certainly be an inspiration to others. What one can do is spread the message, and hope that it resonates with people, standing firm in the belief that those with whom it doesn’t (resonate) will find the message and the teacher they need when they are ready.

(June 2020)

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I grew up in a small, beautiful country, and enjoyed an idyllic childhood full of love, laughter and all sorts of freedoms that allowed me to tune inwards very early in life.  School was my stage, and summers spent on the islands off of Croatian coast nourished my soul. Dance was a form of movement I enjoyed most; it took me places I would never have found myself otherwise – from a tour bus full of popular Croatian singers and performers, to the stages of wildly anticipated musical events, to the comfort of cool, over-sized armchairs in dark dance clubs at only sixteen years of age. I loved deeply. I dared. I stood my ground. Never one to give in to peer pressure, I lived to the fullest in the purest way I could.

Even through the war, I managed to keep the faith in the innate goodness of people. As I watched my neighbors leave their homeland in hope for a brighter future, my heart ached. And when an opportunity presented itself to follow suit, I felt it was the universe giving me a chance to leave behind all that was warm and familiar and leap into the unknown brimming with potential. Caught between an opportunity I could not refuse, and love I could not deny, I trusted that one day, it would all make sense.

After spending my twenties trying to keep my footing on the fine line between holding tight and letting go, I decided to dedicate the years that followed to my children. I had many passions, but I consciously laid to rest my desire to pursue them. A devastating loss of a deep friendship to my friend’s new relationship initiated another painful ending. Always one to ward off pain with resilience, this time I used detachment. The closing off was meant to be a temporary way by which I processed the pain, yet it caused a deep crack in a foundation of my own relationship. Ultimately, I found myself rediscovering the true meaning of courage, determination, hope, perseverance and love as I navigated challenges and hardships among endless tiny miracles. The events of my life up to that point propelled me on a journey toward equanimity. Instead of closing off in face of pain, I would stay open; instead of staying reserved, I would allow myself to be as passionate as I once was.

It took a while to rebuild what was broken. But it was a journey I will never forget. Having chosen to release all the thoughts that I had held captive, the emotions that I had been feeling in silence, and all the messy ideas that I hadn’t yet taken the time to examine, I came to the other side of the seemingly insurmountable task of finding the courage to connect. Vulnerability, I found, is essential to connection. It is not weakness, for it takes great courage and an incredible amount of faith to allow oneself to open one’s heart, come what may.

(August 2018)