Courage is the heart leading outward, and empathy is the heart inward.
Dave zaboski, 2024
There’s something profound about meeting a fellow creative who resonates at your frequency. Like an electric circuit sparking to life, the connection ignites not just conversation but something deeper—a shift in the creative cosmos.
This is what happened when I connected with Dave Zaboski at the DeepWell DTX retreat. Picture this: a Disney animator who helped bring to life The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, sitting across from a tech-obsessed culture hacker like me, riffing on courage, creativity, and what it all means in a world overrun by metrics and algorithms.
We met thanks to Ryan Douglas, DeepWell’s founder, whose vision is to use immersive media to heal rather than harm. It’s rare to see someone who can move between the worlds of gaming, neuroscience, and psychology, creating something that feels more like medicine than entertainment. Ryan’s stunning property on the Malahat became a crucible for creativity, a space where minds could meet, create, and transform.
Ryan Douglas: Media as Medicine Ryan’s leadership at DeepWell isn’t just about producing media; it’s about creating tools that address the global mental health crisis.
He’s positioning gaming and immersive experiences as methods for healing—a shift as important as the dawn of talk therapy or psychedelics in psychiatry.
Ryan’s been exploring how interactive, story-driven media can heal—helping people rebuild the emotional and cognitive resilience they need. His vision is bold, and that retreat was like stepping into the incubator of something that’s going to change the future.
As we sat surrounded by the mountains of British Columbia, conversations flowed about gaming, healing, and where art fits into all of this… and for me a real part of the magic happened with Dave Zaboski.
Dave Zaboski: Sketching as Soul Work Dave isn’t just an artist—he’s a magician with a pencil, someone whose illustrations for Disney helped define childhoods across the globe. So, when he asked if he could sketch me, it wasn’t just about sitting still.
It was about trust. I’m used to being the one behind the camera, but letting myself be captured on paper by Dave felt like a raw, personal experience. The light shifted as we sat, just like my own comfort level shifted as his pencil danced across the page. First harsh, then soft, then something more intimate.
I’ve always believed that art is about seeing people. I’ve lived that through photography, and Dave? He lives that through every stroke of his pencil. As he worked, I could see a grin spreading across his face. He was drawing my likeness, sure… but he was catching something deeper, a resonant creative pulse between us.
His philosophy about art is rooted in empowerment: “What if there was no score? No resilience test, no ranking system,” he said. “You just start where you are, and you grow.” It’s a concept that cuts through the bullshit of comparison culture. In a world that demands numbers—views, likes, followers—Dave offered a different path. You’re not competing; you’re evolving. As a person, as a creator, as a soul. And it hit home for me, hard.
Nicole Sorochan: The Creative Force Behind the Curtain What a lot of people don’t know is that Nicole Sorochan, co-founder of DeepWell, is a big reason why this connection to Ryan and Dave and Deepwell DTX and Neufluent even happened. Nicole’s been a creative ally for years, and her work with Amplify Her—a film about female DJs smashing through barriers—showed me the power of art in driving change.
Nicole’s a visionary, and her investment in DeepWell wasn’t just about tech or money or resources; she’s always been about about creating stuff that really matters…. big impact.
Nicole introduced me to Ryan, and that was my start in this wild, creative ecosystem we’re building.
We’ve shared projects from the grassroots media work on Cortes Island at Media That Matters to exploring how AI can drive creative empowerment through Future Proof Creatives. Her belief in DeepWell helped make it the powerful initiative it is today.
Jerrica Cleland: The Invisible Thread Though she wasn’t physically present at the retreat, Jerrica Cleland was like an invisible thread weaving through the conversations. As a filmmaker and creative force at Wilder Mage, Jerrica’s work overlaps with both mine and Dave’s in so many ways. She’s been creating games and narratives that don’t just entertain—they transform. Her ethos is all about using storytelling as a way to move people emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.
Dave and I both feel the gravitational pull of creators like Jerrica—those who are innovating at the intersection of tech and creativity. It’s this web of relationships, each one adding a different color or thread, that makes what we’re building here so rich.
A Shift Toward Creative Empowerment During those quiet moments with Dave, sketching turned into a metaphor for something bigger. As his pencil moved across the page, it became clear that art—whether it’s drawing, photography, or something else—isn’t about the final product. It’s about the process. It’s about evolving. We talked about courage and empathy, two pillars of his work. “Courage is the heart leading outward, and empathy is the heart inward,” he said, and that’s stayed with me.
In the world I’m working to create, through AI, photography, and community building, that’s the core: Creativity is a tool for empowerment. It’s not about chasing the next big trend or going viral. It’s about the long game. It’s about giving people the tools they need to explore their own growth, wherever they are.
Looking Ahead: A Future Built on Collaboration The best part of all of this? We’re only just getting started. What began at that retreat with Ryan, Dave, and the echo of creators like Nicole and Jerrica is the beginning of something much bigger. We’re building an ecosystem of creativity and healing, where technology amplifies human potential & understanding.
As we left the retreat, Dave shared with me the sketch. It wasn’t perfect, but neither am I. And that’s the point. We’re evolving—always modding, leveling up, and becoming something more. This is what the future looks like: a web of creators, thinkers, and innovators using their unique gifts to help others grow.
Art, tech, healing—it’s all connected. And the best is yet to come.
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