This is my friend Debbi Moses, and this is a painting from her Warrior series: her response to her Breast Cancer. When I received these images in my in-box I was blown away. The courage, the expression, the beauty. Debbi is a colourful, creative, embrace life kind of a girl, and she has chosen to interpret her journey through paint and photography, using both the traditional mediums and her body as her canvas.

The result is a spectacular explosion of life washed in broad and bold hues of pink.

When I think about how much we keep inside, and the power we unleash when we accept and articulate our stories, it is truly incredible. It’s brave. It’s connecting. It triggers a response. It allows others to see that piece of us that is extraordinary. It’s our slice of the light. And sometimes it is wrapped in a package that we would certainly not have wanted, not have imagined or wouldn’t pray away if we could.

I am amazed and humbled when people have the courage to share their journeys and bare their souls. When faced with sheer honesty. When staring in to the eyes of that potent intermingling of fear and hope. It makes us still. It forces us to recognize. It turns the mirror on our own lives, and makes us think about our blessings and our personal trails. We are all warriors in some way. And, we are the champions of our own stories.