Suleika Jaouad

And it wasn't in that exact moment, but I think it planted the seed that started to bloom over the coming weeks and months where I realized that while I couldn't

get on a plane and travel to some far-flung locale and be a war correspondent in the way that I thought there was a lot to report on right there in my hospital room and that I could start writing from the front lines of my hospital bed and what was happening to me and around me.

And so it was such an important moment

And, you know, we weren't even romantically involved then.

But he's someone who his entire life and his entire career has played music, not just in conventional venues, but on the streets and in subways and in hospital rooms, because he really...

believes in the power of music and creativity, not just to bring joy, but to heal.

We haven't.

We went on tour together for the Book of Alchemy.

And he, you know, so much of the Book of Alchemy is about cultivating a creative practice.

Right.

With prompts and—

Through journaling and with prompts, but without the end goal being perfection or excellence.

It's about being in the process.

And he said to me, you should walk the walk and play the bass on stage for tour with me.

And I was like, absolutely not.

I haven't played the bass since college.

It's like being a really excellent...

teenage gymnast and then after 20 years of not going to the gym attempting like a double backflip on the high bar.

Yeah, it just doesn't work.

And he was like, well, that's the whole point.