Mary Abrams

Where you come from:  Mason City, Iowa, USA

Where you live now:  New York, NY, USA

What age you were at the time of the photograph:  Just turned 40!

How old you expect to live to be:  105

What is something that you do that gives you real joy in life?
I MOVE and FEEL and do everything I can to generate more joy and good feeling in myself and others as possible.  I LISTEN and BREATHE and laugh and sometimes I even work too much.  I discovered the joy of movement around 3 years old at a wedding dance in Wisconsin, where I came to consciousness in the middle of endless tall bodies circling around me.  I knew then and there dancing-movement is what life is all about.  Moving in as many ways and dimensions as possible has been my life long adventure ever since.

What about yourself do you really like?
I really love my body and everything there is to discover with it — pleasure, discomfort, sensuality, the list goes on.

Have you ever known anyone who died of AIDS?
No one in my closest circle has died of AIDS.  Many dear ones of very good friends and colleagues have died of AIDS.  I feel personally affected in a deep way, and have close friends who are HIV positive and surviving AIDS related illnesses.

Have you ever known anyone who died at a young age?
Yes, my nephew was 12 when he was shot in the head by a school mate.

What would you like to see people do to change the world?
Taking more time to feel the significance and contribution of every living being on this planet — humans, animals, plants, water, micro-organisms.  I would love to see people really listen to their inner most needs as a way to learn how to hear the inner most needs of others.  Peace is possible through extreme caring.  I’d like to see Xtreme Caring instead of Xtreme Sports.

Looking back over your life, what are some of your favorite memories?
Favorite memories — Laughing for 12 hours non-stop with my friend Michele when we were 13.  I laughed so hard I threw up the next morning and was sick all day.

Spending time in Bali — bathing in the sacred river, being cleansed naked under a gushing waterfall at Gunung Kawi temple site, the smile and heart fullness of every Balinese person I met.

Imitating Barry White — You’ll never find, another love like mine…. — and making my friend Gary David laugh.  Day dreams and night dreams dancing in studios, on stages, and outside.