78-year old Folk singer Joni Mitchell survived a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 2015 – she had to learn to walk again, relearn the guitar and find her voice once more which she did triumphantly at the Newport Folk Festival recently where she got up and sang.

But one highlight among many was her singing of “Both Sides Now”, a song she wrote, performed at Newport in 1967 and for which she then received criticism – what could a girl in her 20’s know about two sides of life.

New York Times critic Lindsay Zoladz said of the rendition “she seemed to sing it this time with a grinning shrug: I really don’t know life at alI.  As if to say:  You never know – anything can happen.  Even this”.

Anyone who has had a brush with death knows life never looks the same again.

Overcoming obstacles is why we exist and it has its rewards.