Gosh you are so right @Duncan, in the banter that didn’t even cross my mind. You always lead with such compassion, I really admire that xx
Oh thank you - was all a bit out of my comfort zone but it really did feel good to connect them and let those thoughts out, rather than have them as pockets of annoyance in my brain!
I quite understand @Duncan. Some things are meant to stay private so apologies if it has made you feel awkward. I think I will consider an appropriate name for my blood cancer! It’s a good idea.
Oh no awkwardness here, and please no need for any apologies dear @Willow. It is quite fun having a name to direct frustrations at, I’m sure you’ll choose a great one!!!
Thank you for the compliment @Spangleystar, I think compassion is underrated and I’m far more used to being described as “oversensitive” 
Maybe writing further can be a little cathartic for you too, I know I find it super helpful 
The whole world needs more @Duncan s!
I’d take over sensitivity every day over a lack of compassion - you’re a glorious human xx
Thank you my lovely @Willow it’s taken me a moment to absorb the compliment. I will keep writing though, thanks for the inspiration xx
Yes, yes, yes my lil 
the first time I saw my D and A after telling them I said ‘I’m still mum, not cancer mum, and if you stop taking the P out of me, whats the point’ and it’s kept our relationship pretty normal 
K hadn’t changed, he’s still tough love, if he went soppy after 36 years , I’d really worry! (And it would totally freak me out!)
Yes, we still want normal,we are not a diagnosis or a label absolutely love your words @Spangleystar xx
I like this a lot. I’m still coming to terms with my diagnoses. (April this year). I didn’t want some people to know and others not, so I put it on facebook, telling them that I won’t stand for any crap.
Hello everyone who has joined in this discussion. I wanted to share something I have done recently with the support of my Therapist. I wrote on separate speech bubble-shaped post-it notes all the unhelpful and sometimes hurtful things that have been said to me over the years. Then we slowly fed each one into a shredder. I found it quite liberating and I decided to use some of the shreddings to create this picture. I wonder if others might find it helpful? Willow x
@Willow, this is great - I love the style! It’s the kind of thing I’d like to have up on my daughter’s wall, very useful reminder indeed.
I love the sound of the process as well - it’s a bit like what I do sometimes, where I write a letter and then burn it 
Oh @Willow (and everyone) what an absolutely brilliant idea, my mind is whirring and my shredder does not know what is coming. Yes, liberating is the perfect word otherwise I am carrying them around with me for free and they weigh me down, thanks so much.
Ooh I love this so much, dear @Willow! The image you’ve made and the intention behind it are just so evocative. I think I’d enjoy your therapy! Thank you for sharing here 
Reminds me a little of the cut-up writing technique that folks like William S Burroughs, David Bowie, and Thom Yorke use(d) in their art-making, so cool!!!
What a great way to make something with less control/more looseness—liberating and freeing indeed, like you and dear @Erica put so well. I also find writing/making stuff and sometimes destroying it to be very cathartic @Ceri_BloodCancerUK. Back in my art college days I even buried stuff I’d made and dug it back up once I felt it was time 
Thank you @Duncan for your kind words and @Ceri_BloodCancerUK too. I am glad @Erica that you resonate with my artwork and the intention behind it. I have never heard of the cut-up writing technique. I shall definitely investigate that!
And @Duncan I am very intrigued to hear from you about your art college days! How interesting to bury something and then choose to dig it up when the time felt right! I am quite a visual person, as I think you are too, Erica, so I found the whole exercise of shredding the paper really helpful. Willow x
So far nobody has said anything hurtful to me about the cancer, and apart from music I don’t much mix with people, but I can see how this would help. I’d try finger painting the words though. more personal.
