I'm back in my kitchen - this really feels like the place to speak to you - and I've been thinking this week about the juxtaposition between joy and pain, between the bitter and the sweet.

It's something that came up in a conversation I had recently, and something that's been arising in the Gratitude Quest. So I thought we could reflect on that together today.

In this episode, I explore:

• How we learn to make space for both joy and pain within us - not as a meme of 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' but as a genuine capacity
• Why cacao is a beautiful representation of the balance of bitter and sweet
• A blessing I received from a wonderful teacher: 'I see you in your pain and your magnificence'
• My own journey of believing I could only hold joy or pain, never both — and how I chose joy as my raison d'être, which became unsustainable
• The devastating period of grief when I told Anton 'I feel as though I'm never going to smile again'
• Getting really ill ten years ago and beginning to understand what would truly serve me
• The awakening - deep, deep, deep down in the bowels of my belly - that I have the capacity to hold joy and pain simultaneously
• An invitation to feel into where you are on this journey, and to know this capacity exists simply because of our humanity

I close with a poem from My darling girl that I don't often share, but that appeared when I opened the book today. It speaks to the expansiveness of a heart that has space for every part of us.

I also share details about two offerings: 

• The Weekend of No Requirements 16-19 October (a luxurious retreat in Herefordshire with no requirements upon you to be anything other than how you feel) 
• and Awakening Hopes and Dreams, a small group course beginning 26 March, 12.00-1.15pm (UK).

Settle in, and see where the episode takes you.