What if I told you that your purpose right now is to be here. That's it.

All you have to do is show the fuck up. if you want to paint, paint, if you want to write, write, if you want to bake, bake. Do it. No wonder so many people feel like failures. Been told they have to have a purpose. Makes them feel like they haven't hit their own personal KPIs and should have just shoved their head in the oven and be done with it. Put the cake in the oven, not your head, my darling,

strive instead for a curiosity filled life. One where you try things and share them with the world, or no one. There are no rules. The next thing you do is to breathe, and then breathe again. You have my permission if you need it, stop seeking. Just be take the dance class, go to the Galapagos Islands, eat the snail, learn the language, join the choir, pick up the racket.

Not everyone's purpose is their job. That is a lie that is told to us, so we keep working eight hours a day. Actually, very few people's purpose in life is their job. We put too much pressure on our careers to be everything and more. And it's an actual fuckery, my friend, and it's causing more and more depression in the world because people feel shit ass that their job isn't making them want to get up and punch the air with that awesomely awesome life.

What about if you pursued creativity instead? Why not pursue this as your purpose in life, and your job is simply to support that. If you think of your work as just funding your creativity or curiosity, life is somewhat more palatable, right? Write the poem or the book or throw the clay down, or do up the car or pick up the paint brush, that is enough of a reason to be here. We need creative stuff so we don't have to feel shit about the other stuff.

When we spoke, what I read from your voice was the issue of worthiness. Why get cancer? Why survive and then have nothing at the end of it all? What was it all for? Well, you survived because it was for me and your husband and your kids and your family and your friends, and your presence in our life is enough of a purpose that shows us your worth. That isn't to say that those who pass from cancer aren't worthy enough to stay they were all worthy, but you survived, and survival was your purpose for a long time, and that is enough.

But I'm asking you to understand this. There is no such thing as fail, my darling. You are stronger by being vulnerable and saying that you don't know what's coming next in your life then you are by pretending that you have everything sorted. No one really has everything sorted.

You create. Creativity is a tool for you to express yourself and what you feel, so try everything. Your relationships and the love you give and receive is your true purpose. It is everyone's purpose. Love is the purpose.

When my father died, the love was enormous. It was like a huge ball of flowers that became a light and then floated off into the ether, showering us all with scintillas of light and joy and the extreme, knowing that this was the meaning of everything. So shore up the banks of your life with love, baby, and the rest will follow.

Say yes to kisses and hugs and hand picked bunches of flowers. Say yes to patting the cat on your next short walk up the street as you try and get your strength back. Say yes to cups of tea and watching TV and all that stupid shit that will not make you smarter, but will stop you overthinking for a while. Say yes to sunsets and clean sheets and hot showers and love, because love is truly everything, and you are rich in it. You are wealthy. You are a fucking rock star. You've just been in the rehab for a while.

Kate Forster, Author of 18 books and counting. Published by Penguin, Random House, Aria, Harper Collins, Orion and HGE. Repped by Curtis Brown Aus.