I’m fortunate to call this beautiful woman my sister. I’ve honestly never met someone so passionate, so outspoken, and so poetic. She is a woman who searches for meaning in her life, studies it. I am so excited for you to read a little about her, and kind of get an idea of how powerful her thoughts and feelings are. She is also the funniest person you will ever meet. quick wit, and goofy. All of the funny that is good for the soul. I love her so. Meet Natalie.

Do you believe that people are innately good?
No. I believe that people are innately neutral. There is something supremely noble inside of each of us, something itching to do ‘the right thing’. Something that feels lifted in altruism, that feels enlivened by being a ‘do-gooder’. There is also something dark, and greedy, intensely selfish, jealous and territorial living in all of us. Something that feels fed when we are self indulgent. Something that on impulse will gnash teeth and lash out. I think that our genetics and predispositions based on our brain’s chemistry, and our upbringing, as well as our life experiences all play a big roll in deciding which part of ourselves to listen to, but I really believe that every action you take is either an action that is good, neutral, or evil and that the more actions you take in whichever direction is what ultimately decides who you are.

What are some of your passions?
This question makes me uncomfortable because I think that the thing that makes me uniquely, underwhelmingly un-extraordinary is that I have nothing I feel passionate about. At times I will get excited about one thing or another, and become slightly obsessed, and then fall out of obsession as quickly as I fall in. It happens with hobbies, I used to be a gym aficionado, a photographer, a collage maker, a seamstress and a guitar player. All of which never came to any talent or creative genius because my interest puttered out like a car out of gas. I never chose a career path because I’m swimming in a sea of ambivalence.
Possibly one thing that is slightly abstract, but something I can’t let go of, is this endless desire to look and dig and hope for Truth in everything that crosses my path.

What song moves you most?
I’m such a music lover, so there are many, many songs that move me. But right now, at this moment its Come Thou Fount -by King’s Kaleidoscope. It’s a really beautiful rendition of the classic hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and it makes my soul stretch and yearn skyward. I don’t know a lot of things. I’m a confused person on the subject of religion, or religiosity. I do know that I believe in Christ. I can’t make sense of a Redeemer all of the time with my logic, but I know that I feel things inexplicable and beautiful, with not even the slightest bit of sentimentality, with regard to our Savior. I, like the song’s author, am “prone to wander….. Prone to leave the God I love” But the song is like a prayer, to me, saying “Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

Do you believe one person is able to change the world?
Absolutely. Unequivocally yes. I feel I could write an entire essay on my opinion of this subject. Just as I feel every action we take ultimately determines who we are, every part of me believes that it also effects much more in this universe of ours than we can really understand. We’re all sending good ripples, neutral or bad ripples out into our world with each action we take, and while we all know that if you smile and are friendly to your checker at the grocery store, that person might not kill themselves that night, and you’ve done something good for the world there… you really have… but, my belief is that it goes much, much deeper than we understand. That each act for good and light is actually possibly opening a sort of portal for more people to experience more light and good. (I recognize how New Age- hippie- dippie -weird that sounds, and I’m not going make a DVD about it and call it The Secret, ) I only want to convey how important my understanding of our ability to be agents is. And that we really are actually more powerful in our simple daily choices than we realize.