Tag: Blog

Support Intentional Creators, Makers & Small Businesses

Every dollar we spend is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.
Our consumer choices have never been more critical. By shifting our support away from global corporations whose business models often prioritize profit over planetary and human well-being, we can actively empower small businesses, independent practitioners, and purpose-driven organizations that are truly making a difference.

Here is a list of products, services, brands and organizations I love, many created by amazing humans I feel grateful to have connected with in this lifetime.

🎨Arists, Makers & Creators

Makers

  • Silver Slag & Stone – jewelry made from hand-foraged stone and slag from Lake Michigan, available online and in-store alongside other local artist creations in their storefront in Sutton Bay, Michigan.
  • Waffles & Honey – Handcrafted gemstone jewelry designed and made in San Francisco.
  • Mark Montano – US-based artist, interior designer, DIY-crafter, and creator.

Gifts

  • Inner Compass Cards – carefully designed decks that combine ancient wisdom with a modern, minimalist aesthetic to help you quiet your scattered and overthinking mind and reconnect with your inner clarity.
  • Simply Gilded – Hand-designed boutique stationery, washi tapes, and artfully-created planning tools.

Artists

  • Olga Rybalko – Ukrainian-Canadian artist known for landscapes, cityscapes and pieces filled with emotion and narratives.
  • William D. Higginson – Australian-born, Canadian contemporary surrealist artist – creating art that he hopes makes the viewer think with introspection, evoke emotions, and ask questions, enabling you to look deep within.
  • Halim Flowers – American artist, writer and activist; Also the CEO of Artonomics, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering artists with financial literacy
  • Mika Revell – Chinese-American multimedia artist exploring the complex relationship between symbols of power and commodified objects, contrasting the ominous and alluring.
  • Madhvi Patel – American abstract artist based in Arkansas.

Photographers & Videographers

  • Julian Walters – New York-based commercial and travel/documentary photographer.
  • Florian Tomasini – Brazil-based Photographer, videographer & filmmaker helping brands and social projects.
  • Kate Enno – Australian-based editorial, commercial and fine art photographer.
  • Victoria Nyquvest – Canadian wedding and event photographer.
  • Adam Bennett – Photographer and academic based in the UK, combining landscape photographs with research, exploring themes relating to land use, ecology and notions of heritage.

Apparel & Travel Goods

  • Oya Femtech Apparel – innovative activewear that protects sweaty skin from the infections that regular activewear causes.
  • Sauri – niche running brand based out of LA
  • Love41 &Saddleback Leathers – high-end, quality-guaranteed leather bags and accessories that donate profits to support orphans, widows, and street children in Mexico, Rwanda and other areas.
  • Db Bags – backpacks, carry bags, luggage, and accessories for urban people who love outdoor lifestyles and travel. Environmentally aware Norwegian B-Corp with a commitment to sustainability and responsible production.

Book Stores & Boutiques

  • The Last Bookstore – Located in DTLA, worth a visit if you’re even in Los Angeles.
  • Papercuts Bookstore – Bookstore in Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA
  • Soul Bungalow – Hermosa Beach (LA)-based boutique specializing in thoughtfully curated wellness products, dazzling crystals, inspiring art, and unique treasures to uplift your spirit.
  • MuMu Mansion – Los Angeles-based fashion and lifestyle brand that curates a unique collection of new and vintage apparel, jewelry, and home goods.

Local Chefs, Markets, Small-Batch Food, Drinks and Nutrition

Chefs, Restaurants

  • Fat Cheeks Hawaii – Honolulu, Hawaii, casual, mom-and-pop eatery co-founded by Levina Moy, crafting lobster rolls and other East Coast specialties, plus burgers and seafood dishes.
  • Bridgetown Roti – Los Angeles, women-owned Caribbean American restaurant founded by Chef Rashida Holmes.
  • To Live for Bakery – Plant-based bakery (their Nanaimo bar is incredible) in Vancouver, Canada.
  • FoMu – Earth-inspired desserts, including vegan ice cream, cookies and ice cream cakes. Locations found around Boston.
  • Cicada Coffee Bar – Down-home Vietnamese cafe serving banh mi, noodle salads & pastries, plus coffee & specialty drinks in Cambridge, MA.
  • Sophie Sucree – Vegan pastry shop offering breakfast, plus sweets such as cookies, cupcakes & scones in Montreal, QC, Canada.

Products

  • Ranch & Rifle – Veteran-owned company offering premium, American-made spices for grilling and wild game cooking.
  • Seed – Clinically-studied probiotic formulations designed to support the microbes powering your health.
  • Mamma Musey’s Pierogis – delicious, Gibson, BC-based pierogis with vegan options available at farmers’ markets in the GVRD (Vancouver) region.

Farmers Markets & Stands

🌱Holistic Health Practitioners, Retreats and Centers

  • YogiAthlete – Chicago/LA-based former football player-turned yoga instructor, focusing on bridging yoga & athletic training.
  • Satya Holistica – Ecuador-based wellness practitioner specializing in massage, holistic therapies, reflexology, yoga, and meditation.
  • The Fat Yogis – Co-operative of functional yoga teachers offering trainings, classes and tools.
  • Serra Vida – Retreat center and conscious vacation destination in Portugal offering self-catered short and long-term stays accompanied by a daily program of mindfulness as well as a number of retreats and trainings throughout the year.
  • Durga’s Tiger School for Tantra Yoga Arts Shamanism – Internationally acclaimed yoga teacher training school that offers transformational programs in Tantra Yoga, Shamanism, and Arts based in Quito, Ecuador.
  • Orenda Retreats – France-based, women-owned series of holistic wellness retreats focused on empowering women through nature, movement, and self-discovery.

Adventures & Travel

  • The Blonde Abroad Escapes – Female-owned and operated, all-female, bespoke travel tours and educational retreats for the adventurous female traveller
  • Nautilus Sailing – American Sailing Association school, specializing in week-long live-aboard sailing courses around the world
  • Portiate Charters – Algarve Region, Portugal, family-owned sailboat charter, including skippered & bareboat. Modern fleet of sailing yachts, catamarans & motorboats. Half day, full day, multi-day cruise.

💖 Community Minded & Non-Profit Organizations

  • Eat Move Meditate – nonprofit empowering people to eat healthy, move their bodies, and meditate through accessible health and wellness.
  • Grow Unwind Connect – a non-profit global wellness initiative based in Compton, California, dedicated to promoting holistic health, personal development, and community engagement through various programs and activities, particularly within the educational and athletic sectors.
  • CNOTE – A financial technology platform that offers impact investing solutions for individuals, corporations, and foundations. It connects investor capital to mission-driven financial institutions, such as CDFIs and credit unions, which in turn fund community development projects in underserved communities.
  • Catalyst Conversations – Boston-based organization providing free public programming in the greater Boston region, focused on hosting provocative conversations between artists, scientists, and the public.
  • Save the Harbor / Save the Bay – a non-profit organization that works to protect and restore Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and the region’s public beaches, while making them accessible to the public through free programs and events.
  • Open Paths Counseling Center – a non-profit organization that provides affordable and culturally affirming mental health services to underserved communities in Los Angeles.
  • Homeboy Industries -Nonprofit that provides formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated individuals with free services, job training, and support through social enterprises to help them redirect their lives and become contributing members of the community.

Other Resources, Orgs & Individuals

  • Book List by amazing humans who have positively impacted my life.
  • LA2050 Social Impact Gift Guide – 90+ products and experiences sourced from local nonprofits, sustainable makers, cultural establishments, and small businesses in Los Angeles.

Show me your data

Show me your data—not just your sleek pitch deck,
Your methods, your dictionary, the systems you’ve built.
Your coverage and demographics laid bare, not kept in check.

Show me your data—don’t hide behind proprietary walls.
Indulge me in your inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Publish the methods, share the code,
give the “how” behind the “whoa!”

Show me your data—a simple Table 1 would do,
and perhaps you could throw in a Figure 1 flowchart too.
What corpus trained your model?
What metric forestalls your errors?
How do you validate—internally or externally?

Show me your data—what does your missingness reveal?
How do you handle the gaps where information should be?
Can you acknowledge your biases with candour,
not conceal the limitations that shape your algorithmic prophecy?

If you truly are the best—as your marketing claims,
If you provide immense value and genuinely care about the populations you serve (yes, serve, not just aim to profit from),
Then, publishing research should feel fair.

Show me your data—a simple request, nothing grand.
Share methods, share learnings, build bridges of trust.
For all your AI promises and future so planned,
Until transparent beats opaque, “AI for good” is just a take.


Show me your data.
An ode to organizations building health apps, wearables, advanced analytics and AI. In a world where algorithms increasingly shape healthcare decisions. This is a call for transparency from those who build the tools that influence health and how care is delivered.

Wellness

Tools to make sense of the pieces.
Words to name the beliefs and emotions.

Understanding.

Equipped to sit in the discomfort.
Gained ability to separate self from stories and shame.

Compassion.

Release and removal of blockages preventing flow and future.

Inspired.

Relief and clarity of what no longer serves.

Hopeful.
Excited.
Energized.
Curious.

Islands of Sanity

🌍 How do we find a way forward in a world we cannot recognize?
🤔 How do we know what to do in a world we do not understand?
🏝️ How can you be an island of sanity amid constant uncertainty?

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca México

📚 These are all questions that Margaret Wheatley explores in “Who We Choose to Be.”

🛑 Hope no longer lies in systemic change, which the time has passed, but rather, it is hope that hinges on individuals creating metaphorical “islands of sanity.”

🌟 The world does not need more entrepreneurs or technological breakthroughs. Instead, it needs leaders.
💪 Local leaders who put service over self and understand that the powerful will always defend the status quo because it is the source of their power and privilege.

🌐 It is essential to understand the complexity of global problems, systemically define root causes and propose meaningful solutions. Still, we are impotent to influence those in power who ignore our efforts. We have not failed because of a lack of ideas and technologies. We have failed from a lack of will. The solutions we needed were already here.

🔝 Leaders can use their power and influence, their insight and compassion to lead people back to an understanding of who we are as human beings to create conditions for our basic human qualities of generosity, contribution, community, and love to be evoked no matter what.

🌱 We can lead people to create positive changes locally that make life easier and more sustainable, that create possibility amid global decline.

🌎 Whatever the problem, community is the answer.
🤝 Humans can get through anything as long as we’re together, and there is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

🤷‍♂️ Who do you choose to be for this time?
💡 Are you willing to use whatever power and influence you have to create islands of sanity that evoke and rely on our best human qualities to create, produce, and persevere? 💫

For more, check out Margaret Wheatley’s talk “Islands of Sanity” from the Meanings Conference in 2017 .

An Exploration of Love

Join me on a five-day exploration of love.
Be inspired by words, art and music to explore what love means to you and how you want it to manifest in your life.

Full Playlist: An Exploration of Love

Day 1 – Defining Love

1. Love is – @humanityinart, Nanaimo, BC, Canada
2. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – STUDIO BE, New Orleans, LA, USA
3. Love, Distillery Historic District Toronto, ON, Canada

Questions to contemplate
What does love mean to me?
What are the different types of love I experience or want to experience?
What does love feel like?
Who or what do I think of when I think of love?
What’s one word that describes love to me?

Quotes to explore
“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can feel it.” — Nicholas Sparks

“If you do not know what you feel, then it is difficult to choose love.” — Bell Hooks

“We can only learn to love by loving.” — Iris Murdoch

“When I look at you, I can feel it. I look at you, and I’m home.” — Finding Nemo

“Love is a friendship set to music.” — Joseph Campbell

Songs to flow to in your exploration
1. What is Love? – Haddaway
2. Is this Love? – Bob Marley & The Wailers
3. What is this Love – Blue Rodeo
4. Lovesong – Jessy J
5. Must be the Love (Enamour Remix) – ARTY, Nadia Ali, BT, Enamour
6. This is What Falling in Love Feels Like – JVKE
7. You can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
8. In the Name of Love – Saxity
9. What’s Love Got to Do with it – Kygo, Tina Turner
10. I want to Know What Love is – Foreigner
Playlist (song 1-10)

Mantra to meditate on: “I welcome and choose love”

Day 2 – Self Love

1. Love Me Anyways – @unfukyourself, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2. You are Enough – @self.enough, Redondo Beach, CA, USA
3. I Love Myself and You Hate Me For it – Barbara Kruger, Los Angeles, CA, USA
4. Self Love, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Questions to contemplate
Do I believe I am worthy of love?
In what ways do I show love for myself?
When was the last time I told myself “I love you”?
What do I love most about myself?
What are my top five personal values?

Quotes to explore
“Before life’s purpose comes self-love. You must love yourself before you can love your expression of self.”

“Self-love is the foundation of our loving practice. Without it, our other efforts to love fail. Giving ourselves love we provide our inner being with the opportunity to have the unconditional love we may have always longed to receive from someone else.” — Bell Hooks

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha

“If you love yourself, you love others. If you hate yourself, you hate others. Because in relationships with others… the other is nothing but a mirror.”

Songs to flow to in your exploration
11. Love Myself – Hailee Steinfeld
12. Good as Hell – Lizzo
13. If You Don’t Love Yourself – The Script
14. i – Kendrick Lamar
15. Self Love – Jayson Lyric, Nevaeh
16. Be Good to Yourself – Journey
17. Could You Be Loved – Bob Marley & The Wailers
18. Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself) – Ne-Yo
19. Love Me More – Sam Smith
20. LOVE – Jhené Aiko
Playlist (song 11-20)

Mantra to meditate on: “I love myself, and every day I fall more in love with myself”

Day 3 – Receiving Love

1. Afternoon Kitten Cuddles – Stamford, CT, USA
2. Love is Everywhere – Keukenhof, Lisse, Netherlands
3. Christina Angelina & FANAKAPAN – Los Angeles, CA, USA

Questions to contemplate
What does it mean to allow another person to truly love me?
How do I want to be loved?
Do I believe I am open to being loved? How do I know?
What is the most vulnerable way I let someone into my life?
What does being loved feel like for me?

Quotes to explore
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” — Maya Angelou

“I saw that you were perfect, and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more.” — Angelita Lim

“Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.” — Loretta Young

Songs to flow to in your exploration
21. Just the Way You are – Bruno Mars
22. Love Like This – Faith Evans
23. Let me Love You – DJ Snake, Justin Bieber
24. Own It – Stormzy, Burna Boy, Ed Sheeran
25. Do You – Troy Boi
26. Love Tonight – Shouse, David Guetta
27. Love Me Harder – Ariana Grande, The Weeknd
28. Learn Ya – 6LACK
29. Better Together – Jack Johnson
30. The Heart Asks Pleasure First – Michael Nyman
Playlist (song 21-30)

Mantra to meditate on: “I accept and receive more love, abundance and harmony into my life”

Day 4 – Giving Love

1. Love Bomber – Kai & Aaron Kai, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2. F*ck I Love You – Fuck I Love You Movement, Toronto, ON, Canada
3. Choose Love – Los Angeles, CA, USA [pls DM me if you know artist]

Questions to contemplate
How do I want to love?
What are my love languages?
How do I know when I love someone?
What do I want people to feel when they’re around me?
How has the way my family loved affected the way I give and receive love?

Quotes to explore
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music, a little more poetry, and a little more dance to it.” ― Osho

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Songs to flow to in your exploration
31. Be my Lover– La Bouche
32. My love – Justin Timberlake, T.I.
33. Somebody Loves You – Aly & Fila, Plumb, Paul Thomas
34. I Love You Always Forever– Donna Lewis
35. Only Want You – Rita Ora
36. LOVE – Kendrick Lamar, Zacari
37. I Will Always Love You – Dolly Parton
38. I Just Called to Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder
39. That’s the Way Love Goes – Janet Jackson
40. No Man No Cry – Oliver Koletzki, Jimmy Sax
Playlist (song 31-40)

Mantra to meditate on: “Today my heart is open, and I am ready to love.”

Day 5 – Manifesting & Celebrating Love

1. Love Bus – Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
2. AMOR – Robert Indiana, Philadelphia, PA, USA
3. LOVE is all you need – Keukenhof, Lisse, Netherlands

Questions to contemplate
How do I create space for love?
Who do I love and what am I doing about it?
Are my actions guided by love or by fear?
What are three words that describe the aspirations I have for my love life?
What does healthy love look like to me?

Quotes to explore
“Find love in each moment.”

“We are most alive when we are in love.” — John Updike

“There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved” – George Sand

“Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything.” — Bil Keane

Songs to flow to in your exploration
41. Big Love– Louis the Child, EARTHGANG
42. All I Want – Tube & Berger, Goatchy
43. When Love Takes Over – Davida Guetta, Kelly Rowland
44. Where Have You Been – Rihanna
45. Lovesong – Snake River Conspiracy
46. Love Life – Desire
47. Realla – TOKiMONSTA, Anderson .Paak
48. Dance for Me Wallis – Abel Korzeniowski
49. Cosmic Love – Florence + the Machine
50. Love Mantra – Dossé-Via
Playlist (song 41-50)

Mantra to meditate on: “Every day and in every way, I attract more and more love into my life”

Resources for Elite Athletes Transitioning Careers

A year ago, I asked my network for recommendations on coaches specializing in elite athletes and transitions.

I had a few responses but nothing really hit what I was looking for and ended up going on an exploration to find the practices, tools and guidance I was seeking. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far (will update overtime):

Athlete Soul – an independent support solution for retiring athletes.
Their mission is to support athletes as they transition away from sports, raise awareness about the challenges of athletic retirement, and empower athletes to develop beyond sports.
They support athletes before, during and after their transition with educational resources, transition and career coaching, and networking opportunities.

My takeaways from HLTH 2022

I had the pleasure of attending this year’s HLTH event in Las Vegas on Nov. 13-16, 2022.

#hlth2022 was the first time I had experienced an event at this scale with attendees that included more than just traditional healthcare/biotech players and investors. Attendance also included tech, consumer-focused wellness, and at a smaller capacity – patients and non-profits.

I congratulate the HLTH team for creating an event that acknowledges how we approach health is changing and that the tools and systems necessary to allow everyone the opportunity to be healthy goes beyond what health insurance traditionally covers. I hope the conversations at HLTH lead to more common language and openness for alignment on the scientific rigour necessary for a consumer product to be taken seriously by traditional health players.

Connecting key health stakeholders from diverse backgrounds is a significant step in the right direction, redefining what is considered “healthcare” and who pays for what is needed. Although consumer and retail products have value, affordability is still an issue, especially if payers are not considering these offerings for reimbursement. Many valuable solutions may never reach those who need them most due to the inability to pay out of pocket.

Further, more efforts are required to help improve benefits communication, patient and caregiver education, benefits communication, and guidance around coordinating whole health care. As discussed during the Sexual Healing panel – language matters – we need to meet individuals where they are. Creating complicated reimbursement schemes or unclear patient pathways further deters the engagement of high-need but historically marginalized individuals.

Reimaging healthcare requires greater awareness and more conversations around the inequities and barriers to access that exist to being healthy. I was happy to hear many talks at HTLH discuss inclusion, health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH). However, I found that much of the heavy lifting and progress around these initiatives still comes from female and minority-led start-ups, non-profits and government. Big healthcare, life sciences and tech need to step up and better support efforts through partnerships, acquisitions, and funding versus building lacklustre duplicates or “check the box on DEI” solutions.

For start-ups and capital providers, HTLH also confirmed that a course correction in funding is occurring. Although many blame COVID for creating a funding ecosystem that led to waste and significantly overvalued start-ups, this trend was already apparent in mid-2019. COVID only added fuel to this unfortunate trend.

I stepped away from consulting with digital health start-ups at the end of 2019 due to my frustration of encountering many organizations that had raised significant funds but were not incentivized or interested in genuinely moving the needle in healthcare. Instead, many start-ups chose to take the consumer route to hit early funding milestones. At this time, I opted to join Veeva for 2 years, a rare example of a Healthtech start-up that raised minimal cash ($7M total) and reached $1 billion in yearly revenue within thirteen years of its inception.

Moving forward, I hope fundraising becomes more intentional and investors take the time to build relationships with entrepreneurs and organizations closely tied to the communities they claim to serve. Further, due diligence needs to focus on more than just financial returns. Considering clinical outcomes, societal impact and addressing unmet needs are also important.

I commend HLTH for providing a platform for many aspects of health, including nutrition, sleep, sexual, mental and dental health. I also appreciate the diverse representation of individuals involved and impacted by the health industry, including rural communities, providers, caregivers, incarcerated individuals and athletes.

Thank you, CoverMyMeds, for the fantastic beauty station, Carrot Fertility for their free headshots, and for Brightside Health (I believe) for providing a hammock for an epic mid-event nap.

Where I struggled at HTLH was how much of the focus of networking and connection was around the consumption of alcohol and unhealthy food. I appreciate that there was a group exercise option offered early on Monday and Tuesday morning and some “wellness” features throughout the event. I would love to see more activities, happy hours and networking opportunities beyond drinks and mingling. I am happy to connect with any organizations interested in exploring this (check out Eat Move Meditate for inspiration).

Thank you, Jerrica Kirkley from Plume, ScaleHealth, Redesign Health, Samsung Next, Komodo Health, and Paytient, for your hospitality and for creating space for intentional connection. Thank you to Matthew Holt, Melissa Faukner and the UCSF Health Hub Digital Health Awards team for helping me with my ticket.

I am grateful for the many insightful conversations with incredibly thoughtful and inspiring individuals throughout my time at HLTH.

Here’s to creating an abundance of intentional partnerships and collaborations in 2023 that allow for improved quality of life for all individuals and decrease the burden and cost of illness on society.

The Invitation – Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what “planets are squaring your moon.”
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to “hide it” or “fade it” or “fix it.”

I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful to “be realistic” to “remember the limitations of being human.”

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day.
And if you can source your own life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.