Selena was born on the east end of Long Island in a place she calls the Land of
Fertile Waters. In some neighborhoods, the fisherman’s boats were bigger than
their homes! Her childhood kept her very close to nature and she discovered very early in her life that the “Cathedral of the Blue Dome” was her sanctuary.

After high school, she went off to college to become a civil engineer. Being only
17 years old and bumping into a tremendous amount of prejudice for being a
woman in a man’s career, she let that go and went off to try out other venues.
Her life has taken her down many paths giving her a full palette of experience to
draw from. Whether Laina is chairing a board meeting or meditating in a temple
in a foreign land, she is at home.
A few years after giving birth to her son in 1987, she became a stay at home
mom. She also became a member of the Moonfire Meeting House Community
and a student at the Women’s Ways Mystery school where she is still an active
participant.
By the fall of 1992, the family moved to NH to have their son attend a Waldorf
School. Being very involved in whatever her family was doing had become the
primary focal point of her life.
After a healing crisis of her own, she embraced the title of Social Artist. Hearing
Jean Houston talk about this, Laina was sure that this was a perfect umbrella to
work under. It incorporated all of who she was/is embracing all the gifts of having
a varied and fruitful background.

“Social Artistry is the art of enhancing human capacities in the light of social
complexity. It seeks to bring new ways of thinking, being and doing to social
challenges in the world.
The Social Artist is one who brings the focus, perspective, skill training, tireless
dedication and fresh vision of the artist to the social arena. Thus the Social Artist's medium is the human community. She or he seeks innovative solutions to troubling conditions, is a lifelong learner ever hungry for insights, skills, imaginative ideas and deeper understanding of present-day issues.”
~ Jean Houston