Guess the Song!!! From 1972. This singer changed the way many of us saw the world and humanity. I think of this song often when things in my life change!

There are many, many other songs about change too.. how many do you know? Here is just one quick internet search. Which resonates with you?

20 Best Songs About Change & Transformation

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t want to be a richer one
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different one
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

This diagnosis has been such a huge change to my life, that clearly has needed some deep reflection , particularly after the radiotherapy weeks which felt so hard!

However though it’s hard to think about change I realize that life is constantly changing and I have deliberately made many changes in my life over the last years. Not least moving from Britain to Canada and then the United States taking with us four small children. Huge change! Moving from country to country to country from family to no family, job to no job, home to no home. What was it that made these changes manageable and exciting? What can I learn from that to apply to my current change reality?

I like to listen to podcasts and stumbled across this one by Maya Shanka , a Dare to lead Podcast hosted by Brene Brown. Shankar is a cognitive neuroscientist and she asks the question ” How do we figure out who we are and a new way to walk through the world when we are knocked off our path? Wow!!! What a question!

She goes on to say that change threatens our sense of self identity. Brene adds that the greatest shame trigger is the threat of being irrelevant!

Shankar suggests that we carry a black-and-white model of change in our minds but that change is a core part of the human experience and she suggests that we need to dissociate from the specifics of the change and look at the bigger picture. Do I really need to look at my identity in a new way? What fitted then and what still fits now? I am still Dawn, I’m happy I’m just in the process of redefining who am but am I really? Aren’t I just the same?

I love my family. I love my friends and my community. I love the outdoors. I love healthy living. I take care of my mental health and build my relationships, and find ways to maintain happiness . Those things have not changed! They might look a little different but they are still part of who I am.

Human beings are complex we can’t have everything figured out change/shit happens whether we like it or not so so embrace change and you never know what you can achieve!

So now Dave and I are heading to the Oregon coast “So I can stare at the coastline and think about all the things that have led me to where I am right now, standing on solid ground. I’ve got my best suit on and I am ready. I’ve got my sleeves rolled up and I’ll be on my way. You’re going to see me rise rise!

Rise by Calum Scott