The Power to Rise Above

Good. Vibes. Only.

𝙆𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 - 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙈𝙈 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠

Yup, another book by .jbthomas that I couldn't put down. This is a giant love story hug symbolic of a life filled with both receiving and giving love to those around you.

If as a kid you dreamed of unicorns and magical worlds but then when you grew up life got busy and the magic faded away, make JB Thomas’s new book Kentucky Raised Me Strange essential reading.

This book should be wrapped as a present for loved ones under every Christmas tree from the hills of Kentucky to the mangroves of Humpty Doo. Wherever you find yourself reading this meaning of life journey, you will laugh, you will scream, you might even wet your pants a wee bit. You’ll most definitely shed a tear or two. But most importantly, you will reach the end with a deep sense of satisfaction.

The wisdoms gained will guide you through the rest of your years.

Once you’ve closed this phenomenal book, if you reconnect with your younger self and listen carefully, you might just hear the distant call of your very own Bloomwright reaching out to you from the holler.

Available from all the usual book platforms.

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙
Psssstttt...... want in on a secret? .jbthomas's newest mm paranormal love story is available on all your favourite platforms. Kentucky Raised Me Strange is his best yet.

Don't wanna give too much away, but you will absolutely fall in love with Bloomwright.

As with all of JB Thomas's books, clear your calendar. Yup, another one that grabs you from the very first paragraph that you reluctantly put down at the final page.

'Remember gentleness is strength,
And that even in the darkest places,
a spark can appear.'
-Bloomwright, Kentucky Raised Me Strange by JB Thomas

🦄⚡️🌈

🖤💛❤️ 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🖤💛❤️

Time to celebrate one of our absolutely deadly co-authors:
Tahlia Burchill O'Brien, MEd

Our The Power to Rise Above co-author Tahlia received her Master of Indigenous Languages Education from University of Technology Sydney last week. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Such exciting news! This degree has taken so much time off country, so much sacrifice by both Tahlia and her growing family and hours upon hours of research. What a hard and well-earned achievement!

Tahlia turning her tassel is a massive personal achievement that honours not only Tahlia's irrepressible verve but also honours her mob, her supportive family and the memory, knowledge and culture of those who have passed before her which will live on through her endeavours.

You know those special people who shine from so deep within that you feel blessed to exist on this planet at the same time as them? Tahlia is one of those incredible humans. Grateful, always for our overlapping orbits.

Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!!!!!

Knowledge is power. Education is power. Sharing that knowledge and education to empower others? Next level. Love this mover and shaker with all my heart. Well done, Tahlia!

What are you reading today?

You know, somewhere along the line I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed reading wisdoms shared by .

One thing I've discovered through my journey as a cancer caregiver is that cancer clarifies everything. It brings you back to your highest self and drowns out all the unnecessary noise in an instant, which is perhaps why I enjoyed revisiting Dr Angelis' classic book Soul Shifts.

Loved her books decades ago and love them just as much today. There's even references to Star Wars' sage Yoda:
'Do or do not.
There is no try.'
-Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Do or do not. Your higher self is there waiting for you. The choice is up to you.

Neither my Dad nor his brothers who perished in wartime were ANZACs, but they fought beside many. My Dad was proud of his time of service in the Pacific. Here he is in Nagasaki during the rebuilding.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
- Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Yup, even with all we’re going through, my five haven’t changed. ‘She chose to shine nonetheless.’

What are you reading?

When 's book There Must Be More: Finding Purpose in the Face of the Unimaginable was released, bowel cancer wasn't even on my radar. Little did I know then that a stage 4 metastasised colorectal cancer diagnosis in our family would totally knock us off our axis and lead to us, too, becoming fierce advocates for getting your bowel scan kit popped into the post.

Kellie's book is a phenomenal resource for anyone coming to terms with a cancer diagnosis and trying to find their way through. 'Be the silver lining.'

There's a photo in the middle of the book of Kellie at the 2024 morning tea where they announced that their care program was expanding to all cancers. Midway through my husband's treatment he was hospitalised for two weeks due to a traumatising chemo toxicity complication that we weren't sure he'd survive. It was then, during the worst moment of our lives to date, that a GI McGrath Foundation Cancer Care nurse walked into our lives. Her advocacy changed everything. McGrath nurses are truly earth angels. That they have been able to expand to all cancers in regional areas as well as cities is life changing for thousands of families dealing with cancer. No matter where you are in Australia, ask your treatment providers if a McGrath nurse is available.

Kellie is also an ambassador for the , again, doing phenomenal work.

'Cancer is s**t. It's the worst.
I didn't want it and
I certainly didn't choose it,
but I do try to make the best of the cards
I've been dealt.
I try to find the silver linings.
F**k, I try to
be the silver lining.'
-Kellie Finlayson, There Must Be More

Get your kit. Do the bowel scan. It might just save your life. And, of course, if you or someone you love has been diagnosed and you're grappling with the enormity of it all, read Kellie's book.

You are not alone.

Grateful for the earth angels who light our paths during life's challenges.

This beautiful gift arrived with perfect timing.

Wishing the owl's blessing for you, too:

'May you always have...
a moonbeam to guide you,
starlight to charm you,
and a sheltering angel
always beside you.'
-Owl Blessing

What are you reading today?

The series has been my go to my entire adult life. My beautiful Mom gifted the very first edition back when I was in college. I've both gifted and received so many subsequent editions through the years which are always treasures, so imagine my delight during our long stay in the city during my husband's chemoradiation when I stumbled across a copy of Chicken Soup for the Beach Lover's Soul.

I wouldn't trade our beachside bliss for anything. Never imagined this gal from the Great Plains would become a siren of the tides.

Be it the ocean, the mountains or somewhere in between, seek out those special places in nature that heal your soul.

A cancer survivor and cancer mentor had mentioned how beneficial revisiting Joseph Campbell was for him as he came to terms with his diagnosis. Joseph Campbell is amongst the authors who have most influenced my life. And I still need in this life chapter to go back for a full revisit. However, this particular quote which I had on my wall in the late 1980s came back to me via this book in Divine timing:
"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned,
so as to accept the life that is waiting for us."
-Joseph Campbell

Yes, cancer changes everything, but in order to ensure it doesn't drown us we have no choice but acceptance. Then, we begin to heal.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is still going and every edition gives back to various charities, not only the Christmas editions. If you haven't read or gifted one in ages, do a bit of a deep dive, it will feel like a giant warm hug.

What are you reading?

Oh my goodness- Hayley’s book we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived from the UK and as expected, it says everything we haven’t been able to out to words over the last eight months. If you or someone you love has been recently diagnosed, regardless of what type of cancer, you will clutch this book like a long lost friend.

I seriously can’t recommend This Might Surprise You: A Breast Cancer Story a Graphic Memoir highly enough.

, thank you for creating this memoir to remind others at the start of treatment that they are not alone.