Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent. Just kidding - my top three traits are (trauma-informed) empathy, altruism, and authenticity.

I have two memories that come to mind. One was a trip to the Galapagos with my ex of seven years who is now a close friend. We were snorkeling in a cove, and there was a group of sea lion pups that were playing with a large white feather and passing it back and forth. I swam so I was just a few feet away (you sadly are not allowed to touch them) and one of the pups tried to pass me the feather to join in with them. I almost spontaneously combusted from the cuteness.

The other experience comes from a volunteer initiative I launched during the pandemic to offer pro-bono career prep services to people underrepresented in the corporate world. One of my mentees was an immigrant who had her sponsored job offer revoked the month she was graduating and only had a little over 30 days to find a new job before her visa expired. She had sent out hundreds of applications with no interviews and was panicking because her family was going to force her into an arranged marriage with an abusive partner if she had to go back to her home country. After a few weeks working together, she got two job offers and is now a permanent resident.

I sacrificed a lucrative corporate career that would've eventually landed me in the 1% because I realized during the pandemic that I was on the wrong side of history. I am in the process of starting a new career focused on protecting women, children, and queer people from domestic violence (and subsequently homelessness & SUD). Sadly, it pays a lot less, and I have lost a lot of time and money to chronic illness, so that's why I decided to start doing this part-time.

My favorite bible verse is Ezekiel 23:20:

"There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses."

One day, I plan on getting "Ezekiel 23:20" as a tattoo on my right ass cheek because everyone needs at least one gag tattoo. I don't really bottom anymore, but the quote is in past tense, so it's a salute to a previous version of myself. Whenever people use the Bible, especially the Old Testament, as an argument for how current day laws or society should work, I think of the scene in Harry Potter where Hermione watches wizard chess and goes, "That's so barbaric!", but there are a few words of wisdom in there.