As if it’s not enough that artist Elena Stonaker’s finely sculpted and intricately beaded fabric pieces are like, “big arms to hold you,” she presents them in sonic, immersive spaces that foster a new world feeling and a powerful sense of discovery and connection. In fact, that act of bringing people together with sound, sensation, and shared experience is a kind of parallel to Infinite Crescendo—which isn’t surprising given that Elena and IC co-founder and Conversations host Carly Jo Carson are best friends. As the two Angelenos talk through a relationship rooted in art and expression, they touch on mothers, daughters, early childhood education, workshop environments, and the kind of sisterhood that emerges when two people see and support one another in their visions and desires.

Somewhere in the middle of this organic and wide-ranging conversation between two very close friends, Manhattan-based fashion designer and sustainability pioneer Mara Hoffman evokes “that joke of tricking ourselves into believing that some things are spiritual and some things aren’t.” The joke, of course, is that everything we touch and do and see is part of our being, our unfolding, our ripening: The money, and the money wounds. The ego, and the unity. The love, and the loneliness. The striving for success, and the folly of “success.” The all-in definition of the spiritual path describes this conversation, too. Of particular note is Mara’s deep connection to the notion of divine timing; that everything happens in the right season and in the right space.

When Detroit-based poet Jacqueline Suskin asked the universe, “Can I have a reminder of everything that I’m doing with my life?,” the lines that came streaming through became “My Poetic Purpose.” We’ve been fortunate to use the lyrical, empowering, and universal totem as a bookend for many of our breathwork sessions and retreats since then. A teacher and channeler, Jacqueline has often written on the spot for seekers, for community, for the earth, and for the good of us all, together. In this conversation, Carly and Jacqueline talk about the challenge of actively cultivating kindness in difficult situations (and accepting one’s shortcomings with grace), the ongoing practice of presence, and the infinite source that supplies us with images, symbols, language, and song.