As I fitted the cuttings on the brown paper, I fell into a trance. I was creating myself. What lay-on the [paper] symbolically became who I am, what I do, and what I love .

... I saw what it is in my life that I live for and why, if in such a situation as breast cancer, I would survive.

The mastectomy scar itself is a line of fish. In my mind, fish like salmon are fighters for life. They battle the currents of a river to continue life, and since I love fish, it only seemed appropriate. They give me a calm feeling of serenity.

I have plastered different words over the paper that tell something about me . ... I am a selfish person because I have learned that the only way to give myself to anyone is if I am complete.

I do not drink, smoke or do drugs; mountain biking is my drug. I love to be outdoors, to run and hike. I am also a landscape gardener, hence the flowers in my hand and hair.

I have marked the seven chakras on my body as an indication of my growing spirituality and my connections with my mother.

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