welcome!

I grew up in a well-off suburb of Columbus as a half middle eastern, half white immigrant. My parents fled Iran when the Islamic Revolution hit, as my dad was white. After months of travel, they landed in Amesbury, England, which is where Stonehenge is. My mother walked through Stonehenge daily to get to the market. My parents traveled the world before having my sister and I, and eventually moving to the US so my father could be a professor at Ohio State University. I spent my childhood walking the tight rope of not being fully white, but not being fully middle eastern. The deep impact my parents had on me, watching the way they served and loved others, loved strangers, and got so much joy out of it---I couldn't wait to follow. When I went to college, I realized everyone around me had really difficult childhoods and were holding a lot of trauma. I was not. I had great parents, they let me be myself, they told me I was different and it was good and to listen to it. I am living in a beautiful place, surrounded by beautiful people, and I do the work I do because I know I can always fill my cup. I am not happy all the time, but knowing where your well is can be a life changing thing. I work as a training facilitator, autism/ADHD/confidence coach, a mental health counselor, and am involved in national projects to help create a more neurodivergent-friendly world. I had a stroke a few years ago, and already had ADHD, the stroke made my neurodivergence even more challenging, by giving me all of the sensory issues people on the autism spectrum have. I had to re-learn how to be in spaces, they were all too bright or too loud or too crowded. I couldn't go anywhere. I started hanging out with people with autism and asking them to teach me how to be in spaces when they fill up or get loud. I learn from you, you learn from me...Currently working on making the world around me brighter and more inclusive. Making art, making love, making relationships, making food, making connections.