How cancer kick-started a life

Kate McMartin, founder, Banquet for the Soul

In 1991 Kate McMartin was a wife, a mother and a successful marketing executive. The diagnosis of metastatic thyroid cancer, with a poor prognosis turned that reality upside down. The past ten years have seen her divorced from her husband and living in a new state. She is now Managing Director of her own small company called Radical Empowerment and the organiser of a series of national one-day seminars that, in February, look set to change the way Australians think about God, themselves and the world around them.

Banquet for the Soul takes place in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane early in 2002. Keynote speakers, Neale Donald Walsch and Thom Hartmann, will share their ideas and wisdom with approximately 5000 people in each State.

It is Neale Donald Walsch that Kate attributes with turning her life around and giving her the energy and the motivation to go head to head with her disease. During a process of experimenting with various treatments ·from a Mexican based clinic that relied heavily on diet, to Chinese herbal therapies and various violently intrusive surgeries ·Kate began the search to discover why cancer had really taken a hold of her body.

"I believe that my emotions caused cancer to occur in my body," Kate explains. "Cancer is a disease that comes from suppressing emotions. For me, I'm convinced the cancer in my throat is a direct result of all the things I held in and would not say. As a girl and as an adult I was chronically shy, would never stand up for myself and never expressed my unhappiness. I was a prime target."

While spending time at the Gawler Foundation in Melbourne, Kate came to believe that, within herself, lay the resources to turn her life around and, perhaps, even contribute to a cure for her condition. Her traditional Catholic upbringing gave way to meditation and spiritual exploration.

One day, whilst looking around a bookshop, Kate saw the book, Conversations with God. Her first thought was, "Not another piece of New Age waffle" but hearing from friends later about how powerful this piece of writing was, Kate returned to the shop and purchased a copy. She says her life has never been the same since.

After a stint living in the country and concentrating on her health, Kate realised she was ready for a challenge and decided to found her own company, Radical Empowerment. The company was set up to organise and promote the work of inspiring and motivating speakers and therapists. Her first efforts were on the behalf of Englishman, Colin Tipping, who lectures on 'Radical Forgiveness'. A few other small projects followed before Kate began dreaming about the people she'd really like Australians to have access to. Topping the list were Neale Donald Walsch and Thom Hartmann.

Putting her money where her mouth is and risking all to bring the message of these two men to Australians, Kate has created the Banquet for the Soul project. Together Neale and Thom will address 5000 strong audiences in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in three separate one-day seminars.

Still dealing with cancer but confident of an eventual cure, it is the disease that Kate attributes with finally putting her on a path to happiness.

"People look at me like I'm mad when I say I don't regret getting cancer," she says. "But really, I was a very unhappy person and I would have stayed that way had I not become ill. There is no way I would have had the confidence to start a company or attempt a project like this. In many ways, cancer has been a gift. It's enabled me to find so many amazing qualities in myself and love myself so much more."

"Getting the message from these books out to the world is vital to me," concludes Kate. "Both men have spoken extensively all over the world but nothing this big has ever been attempted. I just want people to reap the benefits that I have. It's something I just have to do."


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