Sometimes life is a real grinder, shoving us through things that can test us to the limits, whether or not we like it. But there's always something to learn from it all.

I went down to the woods below our farm to sit by the stream, and this is what came up. A streamside chat about going through stuff - in my case, cancer is a large part of that - and dealing with this very strange sitaution of living on Planet Earth.

It's a place full of goodness and badness and everything in between. When you approach the end of your life and see it a bit more from the outside, you can't help but wonder, "What was all that really for?".

Short answer: the evolution of the soul, by learning from what life teaches us and making a contribution.

With music by an Oregonian friend, Galen Hefferman. Recorded on a mossy log in West Penwith, Cornwall - near Land's End - with the help of some twittering birds, jackdaws, the stream and some Atlantic breezes. 24 mins long. With love, Paldywan