THE NEW YOU
A breast cancer diagnosis often feels like a full stop, a cruel interruption to the story you thought you were living. Yet, in the quiet and often challenging space that follows treatment, you can also discover this is not an ending but an opportunity to make a fresh and unexpected new chapter.
The journey through survival forces a profound re-evaluation of life, stripping away the non-essential and clarifying what truly brings you joy and connection. It can be a time of shedding old skins and asking courageous questions about what comes next, creating an opportunity to rebuild life not as it was, but as you now want it to be.
For me, this new beginning took a creative form: I started my jewellery business. It began as a simple need – a reason to get me out of the house and engage with the world again on my own terms. The solitary nature of recovery can be isolating, and I longed for genuine connection and the simple pleasure of conversation. My jewellery parties became a therapeutic outlet, a way to channel my energy into something beautiful and life-affirming after facing so much that was focused on the body’s fragility.
This venture became so much more than a business; it was my passport back to a community. In setting up my collection and connecting with customers, I found myself not just selling jewellery but sharing stories and building new friendships.
The cancer journey taught me the preciousness of time and connection, and now, through this new enterprise, I am actively crafting a life filled with both. It is a daily reminder that after the storm, we are not just survivors, but creators, capable of forging new opportunities and finding or rekindling the spark that brings new meanings in our second act.
Find your peace and unleash the tiger within.
love, Bonita