This is going to sound crazy. Maybe a bit far out. It might leave you wondering who I am and what I’ve done with the Laura you know from these pages. But I’ve decided I need to push myself to occasionally write something positive, to try and let more of the light in.

I always write about the tough stuff here. And that’s great. It’s such a perfect place for it, you’re all so supportive and non-judgemental. It helps me feel like there is a place for me to be genuine and to be heard, which is a feeling I have always missed on my non-therapy days of the week. I don’t plan to stop doing that, not at all. But I am going to commit publicly to you, my readers, that I’ll do something radical and different from now on.

I’m going to promise to publish one positive post per week.

Sounds like nothing doesn’t it? But I am so much in the habit of filling my posts with all the negativity I can’t say out loud, that sometimes I think I simply forget to tell you about the good. And there is good. There is always good – for all of us. Even if it is just a brief moment in the day when you laugh or feel loved or see something beautiful. It is so easy to ignore that stuff.

This week I was delighted to reach my 200 follower milestone. I am humbled by this. It amazes me that so many people want to share in my journey. I’m so grateful for all these strangers who reach out to me by commenting on my blog or sending emails. I can truly say that I get strength from you all. Those connections that we’ve built together, wherever we are in the world, mean that I can come here at the darkest moments and feel less alone. I know many of you share my struggles and understand some of what I’m dealing with. I don’t think I could ever overestimate the value in our community, the compassion we provide for each other.

I suppose saying that means I’ve covered writing an optimistic post for this week. I realise I also haven’t written much about a wonderful and exciting event in my life that happened last weekend. My wife and I became aunties to the most adorable little girl. We’re going to visit her tomorrow and I absolutely can’t wait to hold her and to see her gorgeous little face.

I’ll finish by extending this challenge to you. I interact with a lot of people online who feel a lot of pain. We are alongside each other in this suffering and I am categorically not trying to diminish that.

But I want us to also be able to share some joy, however small and seemingly insignificant. So I’m inviting you to join me in this. Share something inspiring or beautiful, share a funny story about one of your children or pets. It could be anything from a long, wordy post to a single photograph. I’m hoping that we can create a positive thread from these. If enough people join in I’ll share them all in a week’s time. Just post your link in the comments.

Go on. I dare you.