Hi. I'm Byron, and I am what you would get if Chandler Bing had a baby with Hank Rearden.

A curious intellectual with a compassionate streak. A sometimes storyteller, sometimes counselor, and sometimes teacher. I am in search of a partner who wants to join me in building an occasionally adventurous, but often cozy, and always intentional life. It takes a lot of words to sketch out who I am and what I'm looking for, so please bear with me.

People always describe me as quiet and thoughtful, patient, reserved. I never raise my voice, ever. I listen with the intent to understand rather than respond. But don’t mistake my calm for disinterest, or an unwillingness to feel. Years of self-work have shown me the value of pausing to examine my own thoughts and emotions before I attempt to express them to someone else. When I do have something to say I am typically direct, even assertive when I need to be. Despite all of that, I can become very animated – and maybe even gush a bit - when I get particularly excited about something.

I have a doctoral education in organizational psychology. I'm an expert in things like personality psychology, leadership, team dynamics, coaching, and talent development. I also have an interesting and fulfilling job which I plan to walk away from in less than two years. Frankly, I have had my fill of corporate America and the rat race. There are much more soul-enriching things I could be doing with my time, and I intend to do them. Don't worry, I will have other means of supporting myself. I am far too responsible to simply quit my job without having a plan in place. I do intend to leave the concrete jungle at about the same time, though. A soul-enriching life, for me, requires more peace, quiet, forest trails, and space for the dogs to run.

I am totally non-religious, omnivorous, and politically progressive. However, I tend to take a nuanced approach to all matters political and social. I do not smoke or use drugs of any kind, and drink fairly little. I have a daughter who goes to college out of state. She is a brilliant and remarkable young woman, and also fiercely independent. I raised her as a single parent from age 14, but because of distance and her own self-reliance she spends very little time at "home." Although I enjoyed being her father, I am not able to have any additional children.

I keep myself in good shape, have brown hair with grey in my beard, green eyes, and a handful of tattoos. The beard is not really a permanent feature, but it certainly looks that way in all of my recent photos. There are some older pics of me sans beard on my profile, but those pictures are like eight years old now.

I genuinely enjoy hiking and have been wanting to take up kayaking. Ideally, I would like to relocate to a place where I can do more of both. I'm a very good cook, and spend a lot of time reading with the intent to learn. Writing is my primary creative outlet. In the past I was really big into video games and tabletop gaming, but I do very little of that anymore. I don't watch much TV, but tend to gravitate towards the usual geeky shows when I do. When I go out I tend to prefer doing things that enable me to engage with nature, history, or art in some form. I avoid crowds and crave intimacy.

In terms of what I am looking for, that’s simple: I seek a partner. Someone who wants to share all the things. Someone to take long hikes with and share the views. Someone to have movie or game marathons with, and lazy Sunday mornings in bed. Someone to try new recipes and visit historic places with. Someone who wants to share their passions with me, and learn about mine. I'm about to embark on a pretty adventurous phase, and I am looking for someone who is willing and able to go there with me.

I am deeply attracted to intelligence and creativity. Advanced degrees are sexy, but by no means a requirement. A growth mindset is, however. Beyond that I have no other requirements or preferences. The length of your hair, color of your skin, age, height, anxiety or CPTSD, etc... these things just aren't big factors for me. I also don't care where you live now, as long as we can make something work, and bearing in mind that one or both of us may need to relocate someday. I am extremely comfortable with voice calls - even early on - but I am not at all interested in chat buddies or online-only relationships.

If after reading all of that you are feeling inspired to initiate a conversation, then I look forward to hearing from you. Tell me something interesting about yourself. Please do include a photo or two - that's a pretty important part of this process. Please also understand that it sometimes takes me several hours to respond, particularly during working (or sleeping) hours.

Regardless of what happens next, I hope you all find what it is you're looking for.