The poem 'Sadness And Me' was written for the book 'Sadness And Us' that had a worldwide launch on 12th December 2020. 'You've got to be strong and look at the positive in all life situations' was one of the stories I grew up with. It is a story that has served me well...at least, most of the time. But this inner story also meant that 'not being strong' and acknowledging the 'not-positive' were identities I did not want to associate myself with. Feeling sad was one of those identities that I neither wanted nor owned. When life threw a curveball, I would not ‘just sit’ and 'be sad'; rather I would get up and take action. I saw it as ownership, something that a strong person would do naturally. This went on until the week of my 34th birthday when I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Going through cancer was hard, messy and transformative. There were plenty of opportunities to experience sadness too! With cancer, I set out on a journey that led me to shed off the unhelpful stories I had learned and learn new stories that would serve me well. I understood that not being sad was just a story I had learned and practiced for so long that it began feeling like my ultimate truth. But it wasn't. 'Sadness And Me' is about letting-go of the story that being sad meant not being strong. It is an acknowledgment that sadness is as much a part of me as joy is. It is about owning the whole of me and my story. 'Sadness And Me' is a celebration of coming home to myself.