### My name is Tom, but you can call me Teatea. I enjoy running, hiking and rock climbing, as well as swimming, yoga, tennis, pickleball and squash. I am a terrible meditator, fake Buddhist, lapsed effective altruist, and former vegan. I enjoy (but am terrible) at chess, and I am terrible at (but enjoy) playing piano. I work in law and am based on a small island in the large Pacific ocean. I love reading and will reluctantly (but with acceptance) admit to being a film snob. My favourite books include *The Prophet* by Kahlil Gibran, *The Secret History* by Donna Tartt, and *East of Eden* by John Steinbeck, although the book that has probably had the greatest impact on my life is *Altruism: The Science and Psychology of Kindness* by Matthieu Ricard (closely followed by *The Power of One* by Bryce Courtenay, which once got me a cracked rib, but that’s a story for another time). If I could have dinner with three people, alive or dead, I would probably choose Jesus, the Buddha and the Dalai Lama, but Matthieu Ricard would be pretty up there. The poems that generally live in my mind tend to be by Mary Oliver, Rumi and Hafiz. My favourite movie of all time is *The Incredibles*. Hands down. Work of genius. I once considered getting a tattoo somewhere on my body of the words: > [!QUOTE] Quote > We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. But eventually decided that was a bit too long. Still obsessed with ensō circles though.