Today's Featured Biography

 
Diana Thatcher

Well, after graduating from Berkeley (B.A. in Paleontology) I went to grad school at San Diego State, dropped out, and moved to Europe for 18 years. It was the best thing I ever did. All the perceived pressures and expectations of American society dropped away and I felt truly free for the first time in my life. Also safe. To get a foothold in England and Germany I had to be tough and flexible, persistent and smart. There was a whole gamut of jobs: sail cutter, au pair, pizza baker, archaeologist, tourism promoter, office temp, translator and media worker. For eight years I practiced zen and did kendo (Japanese sword fighting). There was a terrific quality of life in Germany: excellent universal health care, thirteen salaries a year, an automatic raise every year and six weeks paid vacation. To say nothing of the beautiful landscape, great public transportation, gracious parks, sidewalk cafes, beer gardens…I learned fluent German and saw Europe, mostly by motorcycle. (And here I’d like to thank Rand Herbert, who taught me to ride his Honda 90 on Hampton Field!) I loved Germany, still miss it, and could have stayed there the rest of my life. So what happened?

After the break-up with Chris (remember him?), suddenly many places I loved were laden with painful memories. Even before that, it had become just a little harder to leave every time I vacationed in California. It was time to go home. So at the end of 1996 I arrived back in CA to start from nothing. There were some paleontology jobs, and conceivably I could have built up a living again…but it wasn’t 1979 anymore and I didn’t like what California had become.

A friend of my father’s invited me to visit her in Santa Fe. I had a good feeling about the place and asked Spirit to send me a sign if I were supposed to move there. I got a whacking big sign and moved there in Spring of 1999. I did archaeology again, a glorious season spent digging in the Four Corners area. But I wasn’t re-hired (too old) and so spent the next eight years in retail, selling fossils, minerals, gemstones and jewelry in downtown Santa Fe. I began doing non-medical eldercare and working part-time for a company that puts on big consciousness conferences. I had a small business, Bearheart Productions, for translation and text services and for putting on events that brought cutting-edge speakers to Santa Fe. I view raising consciousness as my true calling and have always supported and networked with individuals and organizations working for social, political and environmental change. I also have a passion for what’s called alternative history, e.g., what really happened.
In 2011 I traveled through seven countries in southern Africa for two months and in 2012 visited Cuba. Loved both places!
After retiring in 2015 I lived in Germany (I thought I wanted to stay there permanently), Turkey and the Virgin Islands and made long trips to Costa Rica and southern Italy.
I explored living in CA again, but although I love it dearly, it didn't feel like home anymore.

So now I'm back in Santa Fe, sharing a house with a friend. I hike, camp, go to the opera, socialize and play pickleball. The most exciting recent development is that I've begun to write again! My hope is that my writing can also contribute to spiritual awakening.

I’m tremendously grateful for my good health and the wonderful adventures I’ve had. My spiritual path (with lots of meanders) has been of the greatest value to me. I suppose I could be considered a Pagan, though I shun any kind of organized religion. Earth-based spirituality means the most to me, the lessons of the seasons and cycles, the plants and animals and the marvelous Earth herself. I believe that, in spite of appearances, we truly can re-create Eden on Earth.

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