Reminder to Self : it takes time to heal

It’s been knocked out of me: my courage, the fearlessness, the joy, that strength I have so depended on.

Day 6 of 21 days of sharing images from my book I AM ALIVE: Creating Resilience and Healing Trauma through Art.

When the experience of radiation treatment and multiple surgeries brought me to my knees, I could no longer recognise myself: the courage, the fearlessness, the joy, the strength I had so depended on to carry me in life, had simply been knocked out of my being. It took years for me to return to myself. In retrospect, I did have courage as I did stay with life (I did not throw myself under a bus which I had considered an option). And interestingly, at a time I felt far away from life, in this image, I drew the shape of the egg