I am the product of a Jesuit and a Lesbian, so the chances of my coming into existence were slim. But I'm here now, and looking for someone else who "believes" in chance, who thinks that the universe is based on chance and is not bothered by this. I am tired of people who believe things are intentionally "meant" to be by some greater force, thereby absolving themselves of all responsibility. For me, "god" doesn't play dice, because "god" is the dice. But my identity is not defined primarily by my atheism. I was always given a choice as a child of what to think by my ex-Jesuit father, and I chose atheism before he did (I taught him as a child that it was far more likely that we created god in our own image, than the other way around). But I don't talk about it much, only with those interested, and most aren't around here, unless it's to convert people like me. I lived in NYC for ten years, and so got used to not feeling so outnumbered, but somehow I found my way back to western Michigan and am feeling that way again. I would be happy with someone who is just truly not religious, but think it might be a good idea to start with atheists. I mainly would just like to see about someone else who, while also atheist or at least an agnostic who does not think god exists, holds an identity that is not overly defined by this fact, but has a well-developed sense of self, that both shares similarities with mine, while we also complement each other with our differences. I seek someone who is natural and unafraid of just being human and sharing time together, learning with and from each other. I could be far more specific about myself and what I may or may not want, but I have found that allowing for more chance is a good thing, rather than trying to predetermine everything. Nevertheless, in this case, I thought I would at least start with the fact of atheism, and go from there. I will say though that I am fluent in German, having lived there for some years as both a student and researcher, but would like to learn Italian. So if there is anyone out there, who would like to help me learn Italian, or some other far better sounding romance language than German, that would be nice. I love to travel, and have done a great deal of it, mostly alone. If I can find someone who would also like to just get on a train and see where it leads us, while also having some sense of direction (both literally and metaphorically), then we might just hit it off. One more thing though: given my “belief” in chance, know that this also makes me a hopefully not so hopeless romantic, having loved and learned in the past as the result of my not being afraid to take chances when things felt right. If we don’t take any chances, we also won’t have any chances.

Ariete