I’ve had a recurring dream since I was small. A house that I know well suddenly appears to have doors where there were none before – secret passages and hallways. They say that the house is a symbol of the whole personality. The dream says: ‘You’re bigger than you think. There’s more to you than you know’.

I took night calls at a children’s hospital in Montreal for about 6 years. When I’d be woken up in the night it was usually somebody facing a tragic situation and difficult decisions. None of them thought they would be equal to the task – that’s what they said anyway – but I can count the number of times I left that hospital feeling disappointed in humanity on one hand. People are bigger than they think.

Unfortunate that it takes trouble to reveal the depth of our strength and the power of our love but it’s like that, isn’t it?