began to study philosophy, natural science, mythology and the
history of medicine. I was in a book club, joined many
philosophy seminar classes and took an environmental science
class every semester. I even taught two weeks of classes
regarding the concept of love in world mythology. Although the
myths we studied included a copious amount of death, my
students listened attentively and reflected on why the positive
feeling of love could be correlated with such a “negative”
concept as mortality. It became obvious to me that I needed to
encourage an intellectual environment where these questions
could be taken seriously and discussed in a comfortable
philosophical, even artistic, manner.
After high school I spent two years “trying to figure it out.”
Unfortunately the Fates casted me a bad hand and I was stuck
in a bout of mental illness for most of that time. But the three
sisters must have felt a little guilty because what was to follow
was a godsend.
My bed was placed in the loft of my room, big enough to fit
only a twin mattress, four crates of books and some ash trays. I
was unemployed and spent a lot of time in bed. I was very sick
and quite tired of my situation. While lying there one day
drinking coffee and browsing the internet – as I did most days