Paloma began by drawing a scene inspired by a scene from the nearby churchyard she had crossed on her way to the creative workshop. On that unusually bright and clear winter morning, Paloma was delighted by her first glimpse of snowdrops amongst the dark stones. In her drawing, a carved standing stone reads-

Compassion

Dignity

Sight

Placed on top of the stone there is one heart, enclosed within another, held by two hands. Paloma related an idea from a Cuban novel – ‘You have two hearts – one you keep for yourself to nurture you, and the other you give out to everyone.’ The hands are surrounded by a blue zig-zag line – depicting ‘the soul’.

Paloma has felt some medical consultations to be dismissive – particularly with specialists, she said:-‘Do not loose your sight. Some doctors choose to be blind. We give them so much respect, you wait a whole year to see them, your life has fallen apart and you are left to reconstruct it . You are so vulnerable, as a patient you try not to loose your dignity. There is no –‘don’t despair – we will deal with it, it is ok!’

Paloma’s advice to the doctors of the future was –

‘Ground yourself like a stone in the things that first made you want to be a doctor – keep your calling in view.’

“It is not all death and dying – show compassion and dignity and this will help give your patients a new lease of life.’