Disclaimer
Please note: Absolutely no ideas that you will read here are mine.
My mind has sometimes tricked me into believing that I have cleverly created them, but truthfully all these ideas are constructed in a unique symphony made up of all that my eyes has read, my thoughts have pondered, my ears have overheard, and my feet have walked through
Including, but certainly not limited to:
My parents who instilled in me the emphasis on guiding my mind to think about important matters, to view the world critically, and to live with a moral compass as sturdy as the old oak tree in my childhood garden. I cannot say enough about what these two have taught me, so I will just put dot, dot, dot
My brothers and family who have made my world rich, diverse, and always interesting. They created the woman who wasn’t afraid to walk alone through the streets of Colombia, or anywhere. You gotta toughen up when plonked in the middle of three brothers
My friends who keep me on my toes, inspire my mind, and comfort my heart (you know who you are)
The Torah and Chassidut of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, including Likutei Etzot (1790-1810), his stories and more
The Holy book of the Tanya, compiled by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812)
The teachings of the Rebbe of Lubavitch (1902-1994), HaRav Kook (1865-1935), Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) and many more holy teachers, Rabbis and Rebbanits that I have no space to name
My participation in two Fellowship programs: The LSJS Rabbi Sacks Learning Fellowship and The Witness Institute Fellowship run by my beloved teacher Rabbi Ariel Burger
The Daily Prayer book created by my friend and teacher Sara Evian
Dr. Martin Shaw, the man who taught me to daydream while awake
Sam Michel for igniting my hope and imagination
Ros Jaff, for being my teacher and mentor (and inspiration on how to live right) for many, many years
My educational background in Philosophy, Theatre Studies, Drama Therapy, English Literature, Political Science, all the books that I have read, the lectures that I have attended, the museums that I have entered
This, combined with the many and extremely blessed opportunities that I have been given to learn from real-life experiences in the world. I have stepped on many diverse and holy lands, historical places, places of devastation and beauty: From Cozumel, the island of ancient fertility, to the temples of Hindu holiness, Angkor Wat, the extermination camps of Poland, and the Taq Mahal of India, the holy Temple in Jerusalem, and the killing fields of Vietnam, the underwater world of Thailand and the mysterious Machu Picchu of Peru, the pyramids of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador where Darwin developed his theories, to the volcanoes of Guatemala. I have met the people of these places and heard their stories, entered their homes and eaten their food. I have been alone and terrified, found my strength, abandoned in a cave in Greece, attacked by a storm in Israel, chased out my home by Narcos in Mexico. It has been quite a ride.
In short:
All these adventures, all these memories, every teacher, word, wisdom, and place has etched itself into who I have become and am becoming.
I still know nothing, nothing at all, so don’t blame me for anything you read here: It’s a wild mess of all that life has invited me to participate in.
And this is where it comes from.
Disclaimer.
Thank you.