Thank you Robert.

I really appreciate your updates. Thank you so much!

The ability to balance great sorrow alongside genuine joy, while not allowing one to overwhelm the other, is perhaps one of the most important learnings of being human.
(5/5)

Grief sits heavily indeed when it must be stared full in the face, day after day. But joy, conversely, soars high in a life stripped bare. How intense is the beauty of the sky or a spring flower when days are bleak.
(4/5)

There is a strong societal expectation that any hardship in life must be overcome. We speak of illness as a battle, with winners and losers; of grief as a temporary state from which we must move on. In reality life’s greatest challenges shape us forever.
(3/5)

It’s possible to be full of gratitude for the small treasures in my life, and full of sorrow that I need to be. I can feel dizzy with joy at the rediscovery of a simple ability, and raw with regret at all I’ve missed out on. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
(2/5)

Thank you Tony!

💜

Courage exists in the darkest of places: this is something that deserves to be known. (7/7)

“Celebrating someone’s courage should never be seen as consolation for the suffering that demanded its existence in the first place. It’s possible to acknowledge extraordinary fortitude, while simultaneously railing against the fact that it was ever necessary.” (6/7)

“I’m particularly struck by the bravery shown by the parents of the friends I’ve lost. Their ability to face life after experiencing unimaginable loss is humbling. The strength of their children truly lives on in them.” (5/7)

“I also acknowledge those of us who have seen improvements, but who now face the complexity of improvement after a lifetime of illness. It takes courage to endure lengthy suffering; but it takes courage to allow hope and joy back in when, unexpectedly, they reappear.” (4/7)

“In addition to my friends who have lost their lives, I recognise those who have known often decades of intense suffering. There is such brightness of spirit among my many friends who never even see the sunlight.” (3/7)

“Emily, Merryn, Alley, Anna, Kara, SJ and Sharon were handed lives of extreme pain and hardship, and responded with a strength that almost defies comprehension. They wrung moments of promise from the bleakest of days, and lived as the very definition of courage.” (2/7)

“I find it helpful to think in terms of seasons. To see myself as part of the cycle of nature as it moves between darkness & light; dormancy & growth.
The blackest night does not preclude the onset of dawn; the most bitter winter contains the seed of spring. All are part of the same whole.” (4/4)