For me it is another reminder that we humans are, in the most, really lovely decent people. It's simply society and the pressure to conform that inhibits us and wraps an invisibility cloak around us as we leave the safety of home. We shy away from eye contact, from chatting to strangers, from standing out in a crowd. However when I was pregnant things changed. Up until that point I had been a heavy advocate of the invisibility cloak, but suddenly strangers would talk to me in supermarket queues, they'd share their experiences and wait for my responses, some even stroked my tummy! I felt engaged and special and important (if a little weird when they stroked the bump!)
Similarly since launching onemillionpence I have had both a reason to actively engage with others and indeed them to me with their own experiences: Colleagues who have had their own personal brush with cancer, friends who have experienced the loss of a friend or family member, indeed my own family experience. Pretty much everyone has "a cancer story" which just shows how widespread this illness and the resulting suffering is. And it is not just the patient that suffers. It is their partners, family and friends who stand on sidelines feeling pretty helpless and, in my case, not knowing what to do apart from bake ginger cookies and sign up to a marathon (I recommend the baking route to others... far easier!)
Anyway tonight I received a delightful email from a fellow PTA member. Having sent out my initial "Plea" email early in January I had assumed my "peak" of responses had been and gone and was beginning to consider my next campaign wave into my "school mum chums". I really struggle with sending out pleading emails as I really don't want to just ask for money. In fact I actively shy away from the brash "SPONSOR ME" message. I want my blog, my emails and my pledge to actually engage with others; to raise a smile, possibly evoke a tear of emotion, rally support (I need bucket loads), and hopefully people will begin to look forward to the next chapter of onemillionpence. I am obsessed with the blog stats and get a real sense of pride when I get a comment or the blog is "shared" though social media. So if you read my emails and my blog and feel guilty about not pledging, please don't! Please enjoy this journey ... there are only another 329 days left!
Anyway back to my lovely PTA friend. She sent me a really lovely email praising my efforts for raising money for well deserving charities which, it turns out, are close to her own heart having had both parents, grandmother, uncle and friends all blighted with cancer and sadly not all ending with a positive outcome. In her own words "it is nasty". And I never knew any of this until today. It just really highlights to me that the face we all "put on" is not the core and we really ought not be judging a book by its cover or indeed take exception to a cross word or brash comment, after all who knows what is really going on in other people's lives?
But here is a book whose cover is worth some attention and which my friend shared with me as another fundraising blog which her brother has been involved with. This unique art book (http://www.memories-book.co.uk/blog/) contains a collection of 144 stunning pieces of art and design and stories inspired by individuals as they battle their own cancer war. For just £10 this is a fantastic and positive way to raise much needed funds for Maggie's Cancer Care. Check it out and if your loved one loves art who can think of a better valentines day present? A gift which really does keep on giving and here is just a preview!
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