I wrote this as an application to an "intentional community" up in Washington past November. I never sent it because my priorities shifted (perhaps i "should" have gone...but I am ever so happy with the decisions i made.) but looking back I find it an interesting statement of something that still rings very true to me. My goals and aspirations are a bit different these days, but the golden strands are definitely in here; so I thought I'd archive (I say archive, instead of share, because it seems no one reads these... www.myspace.com/Damian_510 whores) it as a reminder of that inner daimon of artistic musical expression that seems to surface in this many times....Oh how I miss those men circles with Jason, Chasky and I.

I would like to further my experience with successful community living. Specifically within the field of sustainable building practices and running an educational non-profit.

I have prior service oriented community living experience at Heartwood Institute, a healing arts school/community/retreat center of over 250 people. I also have communal living experience at a house in the city. I have a strong personal commitment to integrity and living in harmonious cooperative living styles. I am always determined to manifest the ideal of interdependence.

Yes, I have much experience working in physically strenuous activities. As I mentioned before I worked at heartwood in the “house healing” department. I have also done construction and carpentry. I currently live on land in the mountains of Santa Barbara, CA with family. We take care of a small family garden as well as cats, dogs, chickens and goats.

I am a body worker with a full experience in many modalities including Swedish, Cranial Sacral, Thai, Shiatsu, Reiki and intuitive touch. My passion and focus within this line of work is with emotional/psychological healing through touch. Healing chronic physical conditions through the recognition of the underlying emotional/psychological holding patterns or beliefs. I am a musician skilled in both traditional drums (Djembe, Doumbek, Dun Duns, etc.) and didgeridoo. My focus is creative expression and how music can facilitate healing ritual. I am specifically interested in community healing. I am involved with a very successful local full moon drumming. The founding principle of this was started with a friend of mine attempting to bring “Ngoma” into our community. Ngoma is an African drum dance ritual for community healing. My greatest passion at this time is to participate in an educational non-profit community teaching by example and learning through experience the ways in which we can live in a sustainable way, within a conscious creative community. I’m always looking for my tribe of “cultural creatives”.

Yes I have lived in community before. Once for 6 months and on and off at an informal community house here in Santa Barbara where my longest continuous participation lasted for one year. If I think about it; I have always lived communally. I was raised with the idea of greater humanity as community and my first formal schooling was Community Montessori school. Living in intentional community is ideal! The greatest challenges for me as a youth have been with expectations. Expecting people to have as high as standards as I have for myself. I expect the LESSONS for me in the coming year will be recognizing the spirit in the mundane, working with limitations (or rather how to gracefully overcome them), deepening my relations and opening my unique independent creative expression to the world through an innovative leadership capacity.

This opportunity exists everyday in every moment, I have always eagerly accepted this responsibility. There is no truth without integrity. This commitment has been with me my whole life, I don’t plan to drop it any time soon.

No health problems, I do need to share love. Unfortunately I am addicted to air; but I’m working on it;)
But other than that, my fascinations with extremes has subsided. I do not have an addictive personality anyway. I believe in the enhancement of consciousness through sustainable actions ie. emotional clarity, mental awareness, eating whole foods, breathing practices and body awareness, sacred sexuality etc.

My role in the creation of culture is to be aware of my influence and as the old quote goes “be the change that I wish to see in the world” by acting with integrity and always learning, I more fully hold compassion. It is a very active role it is also a very integrated role meaning cooperative participation.

I found you guys very much intuitively but not by chance. It has been my focused purified intention to find this place. I am at a time in my life where I have dropped that which no longer serves and so am fully committed to enhancing our shared vision. I am rather excited to live in community grounding out through service; however I also have HUGE dreams and persistent ambition. I intend to increase my responsibilities and be a very integral part of my community. The fact that you have mentioned that individual passions are allowed to shape the community fills my heart with joy. I have a lot to share with this world; I also have a lot more experience to learn from. I hope that if we form relationship that it is long lasting deep meaningful and mutually benefiting. I said it before, my greatest passion at this time is to participate in an educational non-profit community (perfect, no?). Specifically at this time to learn and improve the systems of interrelation, otherwise known as organizational development. To learn the practical side such as sustainable building; the day to day realities and the underlying organization of conscious creatives within a community setting. My intellectual pursuits take me towards the forms in which people organize themselves.