Date women from United States / California / Berkeley, 55 year old

Date someone special from Berkeley, United States. I'm a little bit more jaded than many of the wholesome people on this site seem to be. Or maybe others are just more savvy about what sells.
I'm 53 and, like most people my age, I've had good patches and bad ones. Fortunately, I've always defaulted toward being happy, kind, and amused by and interested in many things. I think I'm increasingly cheerful as I get older, probably because I don't remember things that irritate me. I predict that when/if I begin forgetting everything I'll be a happy senile person rather than an angry one.
I like people who are funny, literate, left-leaning, and who are well-socialized (meaning they've managed to acquire and keep some friends). I like people who are curious about the world and people around them. I also tend to like people who have learned things about themselves over the course of their life, both good and bad, and who take those things to heart. I don't like people who try to be perfect or, even worse, think they're perfect.
I'm 53, not 23 or 33. Someone told me last week that I look 45, which really isn't much of a compliment or much solace. I'm looking for someone who is not looking for a woman who is 23 or 33. I do my best to try to look good (success varies depending on the day), but am not a fanatic about looking young or terrified of getting old. It happens. . . .

Meet a woman from Berkeley, United States. I am a lover of language, (do you know Eduardo Galeano's writing?) comfortable with both words…….. and silence. Poetry is one of my favorite foods.
I am a skilled facilitator of complex and courageous conversations. I also love collaborating with artists to integrate theater, photography, poetry, murals, oral history into community education and action.
My thirteen year old daughter is my greatest love, my best teacher. We are a transracial family through adoption. I am seeking to be with a partner who has explored issues of race, culture, identity and who like me, moves in many worlds, a border crosser of sorts.
I am Jewish, the child of a Holocaust survivor, and strongly support the Palestinian struggle for self determination.
I swim, or go to the gym 2-3 x a week, cycle ( recreational), and eat and cook yummy healthy food. Gotta thing for chocolate too…
I have a meditation practice..........most of the time. :)
Music is important to me and I listen to many kinds of music, jazz, salsa, world music,….
Playfulness and humor are key parts of me---as is warmth, hope, compassion, empathy and sensuality.
I walk in this world as best I can with an open heart and with grace.
If I didnРІР‚в„ўt have (or didnРІР‚в„ўt do) my РІР‚?to doРІР‚в„ўs I could snuggle and touch much of the day----am drawn to reading aloud and someone who wants to read to me.
I love traveling and just hanging at home.
I also need time for and by myself.
I am 5'1, slender, fit, artsy looking to some (with a NY edge?), considered attractive by many, have curly brown hair, olive skin and am often described as looking like I am from the Mediteranean or Latin America. I would be glad to send you a photo--just not up for being so public on this site.
I am looking to connect deeply with a partner who desires a depth of connection, shares my social justice values, believes the path is the goal and who is intellectually, emotionally, sensually and spiritually alive and curious.
You will bring your own interests, passions and quirks to our connection. You are self reflective and a good communicator. You have friends and something resembling a life that you will want to share with me and my daughter. Perhaps you have children, perhaps not.
You are attractive (I know it is all relative) and take care of your body, exercise, reasonably fit and have a healthy lifestyle. (No addictions, substances!)
You have things to tell me, share with me that you know and don't know yet. You are in a place in your life where you are open to and would welcome a long term partnership. You can give and receive and accept that there are times when there is imbalance.....you can hang in when the core connection is good.
You know that after all these words here, it is really about luck, fate, chemistry, timing and that these words are just placeholders for possibilities.
If you choose to respond, please do let me know what resonates for you.