The LIFE before we die...

I find that there is a window of deep clarity and beauty, which accompanies the unbearable pain that exists when death enters our lives. 

Last week one of the most precious humans I know and love lost her mother… two other humans, I also regard as family, are in the final stages of losing their four legged child.

I have never seen this much death around at once and although I am two degrees away from experiencing the intensity of loss these humans I dearly love are feeling… bearing witness to their pain and processing; gifts me the opportunity to connect to those I love and to remember how fortunate I am to be able to have my parents, my family and friends alive and thankfully healthy, for the most part. 

The beauty I see glimpses of, are momentary reminders of the richness and depth of love shared and experienced. Our pain is only felt to the degree to which we have felt and received deep love and connection with others.

Henry sums this up so beautifully when he shared that this experience has woken a perspective in him which sees the beauty in absolutely everything around him, no matter how small, and how incredible that is to bear witness to! He also mentions he wouldn’t wish this experience on his worst enemy :-(

I have lost many friends and family, mostly to cancer. Some have been closer in relationship than others and always with the pain comes the realisation of the preciousness of life, its fragility and a renewed sense of purpose to experience it all with more appreciation, less mindlessness and a drive to explore life to a fuller extent.

I find myself in these moments renewed in my commitment to life, and appreciating the magic in moments more than the mind's anxiety and fears… after I survived my own cancer experience, which was unlikely at the time, I got my one and only tattoo for the only purpose of reminding myself of this very wisdom, but being human I slowly get numbed into the mundane too often.

It is within this window of deep clarity that I wish to share a conversation with the person who most inspires me because of her embodiment of courage in facing her cancer prognosis, a terminal stage 4 cancer diagnosis. 

Yvette Green is the bravest human I know and wishes to get real about the value of a coffee with a friend, the courage to allow fear to shed tears and something she is a master at - to fill the room with laughter in the face of one of the hardest journeys which can be taken.

Here is our 20 minute chat, which might offer us all the opportunity to see the deep beauty in our lives, the importances of shared coffee and the catharsis of JOY in spite of fear.

Please join us for our first live talk to help cancer patients and their carers honour the need for laughter, tears and coffee this coming Wednesday @LifeShine Wellness Centre 03 August 2022 - click her to book your tickets…

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/182704-knowing-and-growing-capacity-as-a-carer/#/