Dawn "Proudly Stating Who I Am Everyday"

Name: Dawn
Age: 34
Sign: Scorpio
I grew up in: San Antonio, TX
I currently live in: West Hollywood, CA
Occupation: Assistant Director
You can find me: walking around the gayborhood looking for Vegan Cookies.
You will never find me: in a Sports Bar talking about my Fantasy Football Team.
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: www.aidswalk.net

1.) What (person, goal, dream) gets you out of bed each day?
The American Dream gets me out of bed everyday. I want to work hard and accomplish great things like owning my own home and starting a family. My mother did it, now its my turn.

2.) What life experience has strengthened you the most?
Coming Out of the closet has strengthened me the most. It taught me a lot about the power of Shame and Hate. I was taught from an early age in Catholic school that being Gay was a sin and shameful, so it took me a long time to Love my (Whole) self. After years of depression I finally decided to be true to my person, and no longer hide in shame. My spiritual and emotional self is stronger now thanks to Proudly stating who I am Everyday. It is not a choice, but just Who I Am!

3.) What would you want to change about yourself?
If I would change one thing about myself, it would be my quickness to Anger. I try to take a 5 minute Timeout when I feel the Frustration kicking in. I'm definitely doing better, but I still need to work on my temper.

4.) How do you want to be remembered?
I want to be remembered as a Loving Nurturing Old Soul.

5.) What is your most prized possession?
My Concert Ticket Collection. From New Kids On The Block to AC/DC...I've seen them All!!!

Jim "Still Alive And Kicking"

Name: Jim
Age: 45
Sign: Peace
I grew up in: spite of my best efforts not to.
I currently live in: Northampton Mass.
Occupation: Live Music Promoter
You can find me: if I'm who you're really looking for
You will never find me: in transgender beastiality chatrooms...on a weekday
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: http://www.airsicknessbags.com

1.) What (person, goal, dream) gets you out of bed each day? My Job

2.) What life experience has strengthened you the most? My near self-destruction

3.) What would you want to change about yourself? I would ask my brain to stop screaming and chattering at me

4.) How do you want to be remembered? As the guy who is still alive and kicking.

5.) What is your most prized possession? My Mac

Katherine "Making Movies"

Name: Katherine
Age: 32
Sign: Pisces
I grew up in: A small town in Louisiana
I currently live in: A Big town in Los Angeles
You can find me: making movies
You will never find me: playing bingo

Your website or Charity you are passionate about: www.theboysclubmovie.com

1.)Who or what inspires you? Nature

2.)What are you most proud of? Our evolution

3.)What has been your greatest loss in life? My insanity

4.)Who would you like to meet? Obama

5.)What is the hardest part of your day? leaving my horses
What is the best part of your day? taking a bubble bath at night

Rachel "Success Is Contentment"

Name:Rachel
Age: 32
Sign: Aries
I grew up in: Portland, Or
I currently live in: Eureka, Ca
Occupation: fitness instructor
You can find me: on myspace. www.myspace.com/therealbabymama, or jogging through my neighborhood.
You will never find me: at McDonalds.
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: SEVA www.seva.org

• 1.) How do you measure success?

Success is a state of mind. It is not an amount of money, a house, a car, a perfect marriage or the most brilliant accomplished children. It is contentment. It is being in the moment and noticing your own breath, the sun on your face, the sensation of living. Failure is forgetting to notice how lucky you are, every single day.

• 2.)What would you want to change about yourself?

As long as I can remember my family was the “late family.” I’d like to forever be known as the girl who reversed the code. The girl who’s family was always on time. I am not quite there though. The genetic code is strong.

• 3.) How do you want to be remembered?

I expect to be remembered by the brief generation or two that follows me. I accept that I will not be remembered always. I have great great great grandparents. Do I remember them? No. There are graveyards full of forgotten people. It is inevitable. It is okay. It is normal. I can be one of the invisible forgottens. There is no shame in it. I wonder if Einstein would have preferred it over his notoriety.

• 4.) What is your recurring dream?

There is one. It is a nightmare. Visions of rape and torture. Home invasion. A coworker of my mother died that way. I was nine. It left a mark on my insides.

• 5.)What is the hardest part of your day? What is the best part of your day?

Growing up I vowed to never be “the cook”. Just because I was born female automatically meant I had to learn this skill. I vowed to find a man who would do the cooking for me. I did. He is wonderful. He is also working two hours away from home. I have to be the cook. It is hard. I am getting better. The meals are less and less often “experiments” and more often successes.

Best part of the day: my jog.

Wendy "I Always Want To Smell My Childhood Backyard"

Name: Wendy
Age:44
Sign:capricorn
I grew up in:San Diego
I currently live in:San Diego (about 1 mile from the hospital I was born at. And I work about one mile from this hospital, at a college that was just completed the year I was born).
Occupation: English teacher, San Diego Mesa Community College.
You can find me: at dog beach
You will never find me: wearing that yucky dull red color clothes that they try to sell you over the holidays.
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: Project Wildlife!

1.)What (person, goal, dream) gets you out of bed each day? The element of surprise.

2.)What life experience has strengthened you the most? I bench press a thousand stupid mistakes and I can curl about fifty cruel injustices.

3.)What would you want to change about yourself? Not sure. I could say "my overdeveloped sense of responsibility" but then where would I be?

4.)Describe the landscape of the place you grew up. How did that landscape affect you? Canyon, climbing trees, night-blooming jasmine, narcissus bulbs that multiplied every year. I have to plant narcissus bulbs and I have to have night-blooming jasmine outside my window. I always want to smell my childhood backyard.

5.)What is your most prized possession? A bunch of very old family albums. In a disaster, as far as material things, I'd go for those.

Jonatha "Passionate About Doing The Right Thing"

Name: Jonatha Brooke
Age: 45
Sign: Aquarius, like Oprah, and Joe Sample! ;)
Occupation: singer/songwriter/producer
I grew up in: Boston, Massachusetts
I currently live in: New York City
You can find me: Usually on a plane, train, or automobile. Or if I'm
actually home? Knitting or watching CSI re-runs, or my new FAVORITE SHOW OF
ALL TIME: "Nurse Jackie."
You will never find me: In Times Square, unless it is an absolutely life or
death situation.

Your website or Charity you are passionate about: Greenpeace and ASPCA,
jonathabrooke.com

1.) What are you passionate about? I'm passionate about doing the right thing. And incredibly impatient with shirkers and do-wrongers and
hypocrites. I'm passionate about my family, my husband, (my husband's
cooking), my friends, and the lost art of listening. Good music and good
writing are the other essentials.

2.) What are you most proud of? My marriage makes me proud. I'm still in love after twelve years. Weak in the knees even. And there are three songs I've written that still make me well up when I hear them, or sing them.... "So Much Mine," "Because I Told You So" "My Sweet and Bitter Bowl." Ok, four, "Paris."

3.) Who has been the most influential person in your life?
I know it just sounds gushy, but my husband and my best friend Ronnie. My husband is absolutely steady, still waters. He is generous to a fault, honest even when it hurts, unrufflable in a crisis, and an incredible lover and partner. His integrity is a huge influence and daily inspiration.

My best friend Ronnie keeps me honest and in check, and she re-animates me
when I hit the creative "I suck" wall. She has stuck with me through thick
and thin and we share this empathic weakness/strength that bonds us even
though we are from totally different worlds.

4.) What is difficult for you?
The hardest thing for me is constantly having to re-callibrate my sense of
"success." I love my career, and have had an incredible path so far, filled
with respect, fabulous opportunities, and incredible musical associations.
It just never looks the way I expected when I first started out. And more
and more it is a real juggling act to piece all my worlds -- writing,
recording, producing, touring -- together into a cohesive, sustaining
living.

5.) Who would you like to meet?
You know, I would just like to see my dad again. He died at 68, way too
soon, unexpectedly, and I felt like I was just starting to crack a certain
barrier he kept up. I admire(d) him so much. In that sense it would be like
meeting him for the first time. In a second chance sort of way.

Photo Credit: Susannah Conway

Now Touring!

Autumn "Charitable Fundraiser"

Name: Autumn
Age: 33
Sign: Leo
I grew up in: Willits, CA
I currently live in: Long Beach, CA
Occupation: Marketing
You can find me: on the 405
You will never find me: At a sports bar
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: KIVA.org


1.)What is your dream job?

I have no idea. I love my job now, even with its frustrations. I like its mixture of glamour, creativity, intelligence, pressure and charitable fundraising. It's hard to find. It would improve with a promotion. :) In the future, once I'm past my peak earning years, I see myself running a space or restaurant that fuels community and socialization with some political/philosophical/musical/literary leanings. If I can interact with art and conversation every day, I feel satisfied.

2.)What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my loving nature. I fought against some pretty vile tendencies in my early twenties to break through and realize that every person bears their own burden and deserves to be treated like a human being with empathy and compassion.

3.)What has been your greatest loss in life?

My grandmother, Hripsime Nazarian, died when I was ten.
I have always felt extremely cheated out of time with her, especially since she was sick for many of the years preceding her death. She was an immigrant with countless stories and wisdom. Her experiences included growing up wealthy, then losing everything and learning to deal with the realities of poverty. She was restless. She was an entrepreneur and had a successful dress shop that she ran out of her basement in Boston. She did this despite the fact that my grandfather was wealthy and many of her social peers looked down their noses at a working wife. I am connected to her in ways that go deeper than DNA. I even put her in my cell phone - listed with my number. She is always the guide I turn to for assistance when reason and logic seem useless. Losing her too young was a tremendous loss.

4.)Who would you like to meet?

So many people. The Clintons and Obama of course. I would LOVE to meet someone like Karl Rove just to pick his brain to discover the motives... The mind reels. I would love to have dinner with Richard Branson, Richard Dawkins or Warren Buffet. Also Stephen Hawking. I would love to meet the scientists at CERN. Ok, I'll shut up now.

5.)What is the hardest part of your day? What is the best part of your day?

The hardest part of my day takes place on the 405 freeway, resigned and frustrated. The best part of my day is waking up with my girlfriend, our dog & cat and maybe pressing the snooze button.

Jianda "Creating Magic Online"

Name: Jianda
Age: 30something
Sign: Virgo
Occupation: Artist
I grew up in: A magical timeless dream space
I currently live in: Southern California
You can find me: Creating Magic Online
You will never find me: If you never look for me
Your website or Charity you are passionate about: Website? http://www.jianda.net. Charity? http://www.rainn.org.

1) Who or what inspires you?
All of life inspires me (so that includes an infinite amount of "who's," and "what's," "where, when, why, how's..."). I marvel at the ability that each individual has to create reality (even if it's only in mind)--even unconsciously so. We're all so miraculous that way. Even in the depths of depression it's still just the least that the person knows about good at the time--and it can still evolve and change. I love that we have the ability to be "conscious about our consciousness," and that it expresses itself in so many lovely ways. The idea that some of us are looking at the stars, even from the gutter (Paraphrasing Oscar Wilde, with help from the band The Pretenders). :)

That's the long answer. The shorter answer would be "artistic expression." I think both ideas are the same thing.

2) What has been your greatest achievement?
The body of work that I've created as an artist in various media: prose, music, radio shows/interviews, photography, theater--it helps me to heal and feel good and others have shared that same feedback as well. I'm most proud of it because it's the feeling I get when I'm moved by art with any kind of insight or spark, and it makes me feel like I'm giving back somehow.

3) If money weren't an issue what would you be doing for a living? Exactly what I'm doing right now: studying Holistic Health Practitioner coursework, creating works of art online, studying I.T., and making feelgood music.

4) Who would I like to meet?
Could you clarify "meet?" If the sense is like a "meeting," spanning over time: Oprah. If it's a "meet" like "meet and greet," it would be the Obama family.

5) What do you want to see before you die?
I'd love to see my berry-brown, bare feet squished into healthy, vitamin-rich soil that supports a flourishing garden in my own backyard (I know I need to create the space for the garden first).

Thank you

I want to thank all of you who have answered 5 questions about your life to share to the world. It is appreciated in so many ways. You can influence someone just by living your life and talking about the things you are passionate about and the struggles you went through or are going through today.

As I travel the USA with my dog, Max, I won't be able to post each day as I was in the past. I'll do my best to try and post when people share their life.

You can follow us on our journey here:
Alison Travels

Thank you again!
Love,
Alison and Max

Michelle "My Children Inspire Me Each Day"

First Name: Michelle
Age:38
Sign:LIbra
I grew up in:Davis, CA
I currently live in:Davis, CA
Occupation:Principal of an Elementary School
You can find me:easily-I am six feet tall. Seriously, you will find me at work or with my kids.
You will never find me:in a bikini, eating raw fish, or playing the violin
Your website or Charity you are passionate about:Anything that works to beat cancer

1.) Who or what Inspires you? My children inspire me each day. My dad has inspired me tremendously lately as I watch his fight against cancer. I aspire to live my life like he does.

2.) What would you want to change about yourself? I have no patience and my hastiness causes me to miss some real quality moments.

3.) What life experience has strengthened you the most? This last year has made me tough as nails. My father is fighting cancer, my grandfather died, my cat of 14 years died, my dog of 10 years died, I started a new job, and I got a divorce. I have learned that it can always be worse not matter how bad it is!

4.) Who has been the most influential person in your life? My mother and father.

5.) How do you want to be remembered? I want poeple to think that their lives were slightly better because they shared it with me. Most importantly, I know that I will live on in my children and I hope that they can carry out good in the world and in the hearts of those they

Anne "I Am Inspired By People"

Name: Anne

Sign: Cancer

I grew up in Santa Barbara, CA

I currently live in Santa Barbara, CA, but not until after a 28 year absence, during which I went into the Army, flew helicopters in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Central America. Got out, moved to the Bay Area and spent 15 years there. Then, back to Santa Barbara.

Occupation: self-employed as an artist, Internet entrepreneur, writer (I write non-fiction eBooks)

You can find me: hanging with my girl, on my computer, at the beach.

You will never find me: I never say never and know myself well enough to know that that is true.

What Charity are you passionate about? Saying that I am passionate about a charity seems like the 'right' thing to do, but I honestly believe asking for charity is buying into being a victim. I give when I can, usually to random people down on their luck when I have extra cash.

1) Who or What inspires you? I am inspired by people, who in spite of great odds, are determined not to be victims and rise above their circumstances to do great things. I am inspired by my partner, Kellie, who is extremely patient, compassionate, and kind.

2.) What would you want to change about yourself?
I try to work constantly on myself. Right now I am working on learning how to forgive and how to be patient.

3.) What life experience has strengthened you the most? I believe my personal relationships have strengthened me the most. By strengthen I mean that I have become more than who I was before, and stronger in my knowing who I am, what I want, and where I want to go.

4.) Who has been the most influential person in your life?I can't say that there has been any one person in my life that has been the most influential. There have been many people in different roles, at different times who have influenced my life in meaningful ways. Sometimes the most influential have been the ones from whom I have learned how not to be, or what not to do. I think much of what I have worked to overcome in my life comes from a past that includes lack of trust and lack of respect. Because of that, people who were less than kind or compassionate to me may be the most influential because those experiences have caused me to look deeply, heal myself, and to learn to forgive.

5.) How do you want to be remembered?I hope by the time I am ready to go that I will have made a difference on some lives. I hope to be remembered at least as an example of healthy living and spiritual connectedness, and as someone who tried their entire life to expand and awaken.