Submitting Your Story

Website Calls for Submissions:

When the World Moves On (Perkatory Event)

*Submissions due Friday, October 9th

Describe a moment when you felt like the world around you kept moving but you didn’t. What was that like? Reflect on feelings of isolation, stagnation, or disconnect.
How has cancer shaped who you are, in ways that others might not see or understand? Explore identity shifts that might feel invisible to the outside world.
What does it feel like when you watch others move forward with their lives? Explore emotions like jealousy, sadness, hope, or determination.
How has cancer changed your relationship with time? Have your expectations for yourself or for others evolved?
For the Caregivers: As a caregiver, reflect on moments when it felt like life around you –friends, work, or society – kept moving while you were caught up in cancer care. How did/does that affect you emotionally, and how did/do you navigate feeling out of sync with the world?

The Perception of Cancer

*Submissions due Friday, October 30th

What’s an assumption people make about you because you have (or had) cancer? Reflect on how that has (or hasn’t) shaped your experience?
Have you ever felt misunderstood or misrepresented by the way society portrays cancer—through media, fundraising, or everyday conversations? Write about a moment that stands out.
How do cultural, religious, or generational perspectives influence the way others respond to your diagnosis?
Do you ever feel invisible in the cancer narrative (too young, too healthy-looking, too rare)? Tell that story.
Imagine writing a letter to society titled “This is what you get wrong about cancer.” What would you say?
For the Caregivers: As a caregiver, reflect on how others perceive your loved one’s cancer experience. What assumptions, stereotypes, or societal narratives have you noticed people applying to them–or to you? How have these perceptions affected the way you care, advocate, or interact with the world?

Magazine Calls for Submissions:

Growing Around Grief (March 2027 Issue)

*Submissions due Friday, November 20th

What are you grieving, and how are you learning to grow around it?
Has your grief changed over time? What does it look or feel like now compared with when it first began?
What ordinary moments bring your grief to the surface? A song, a holiday, a milestone, a familiar place, a smell, or something completely unexpected?
What have you built, discovered, or become because you have learned how to live with grief?
What would you want someone to understand about the grief that can remain long after treatment ends?
What are the moments that remind you that grief and gratitude can exist at the same time?

For Caregivers:

As a caregiver, you may grieve alongside the person you love while also trying to keep moving forward. What does it mean to grow around grief while caring for someone else?
What parts of your life, identity, or relationship did you grieve during your loved one’s cancer experience? How have you learned to make room for those losses?
Caregiving can come with complicated emotions: love, fear, anger, relief, guilt, gratitude, exhaustion, and grief. How have you learned to hold more than one of these feelings at once?

Reclaiming Joy (June 2027 Issue)

*Submissions due Friday, February 26th

What does joy look like for you now, and how has that changed since cancer?
Tell us about a moment when joy showed up unexpectedly alongside grief, fear, anger, or uncertainty.
Have you ever felt guilty for feeling happy after cancer? What did that experience teach you?
What does it mean to make room for joy without pretending the hard things aren’t still there?
Tell us about something that brings you joy that you didn’t expect to find again.
Sometimes reclaiming joy isn’t about a major life change. It’s about noticing the small things again. What ordinary moments have become meaningful to you?
Can joy feel uncomfortable after cancer? Tell us about a time when happiness brought up unexpected emotions.

For Caregivers:

What have you learned about finding or reclaiming joy while still carrying worry, exhaustion, or grief for your loved one?
Have you ever felt guilty for enjoying yourself while someone you love was struggling? How have you made space for both?
Tell us about a moment of joy you experienced during or after caregiving that surprised you.

What Healing Really Looks Like (September 2027 Issue)

*Submissions due Friday, May 28th

What did you think healing looked like before cancer? How does that compare with what it actually looks like?
Has your definition of healing changed over time? What does it mean to you now?
Tell us about something you thought you needed to “heal” from that you eventually learned to live alongside instead.
What parts of your experience have healed, and what parts still feel tender?
Have you ever felt like you weren’t healing because you didn’t look or feel the way you thought you should?
Tell us about something that helped you realize healing doesn’t have a timeline.
Physical wounds can be easier to recognize than emotional ones. What parts of your healing experience have been invisible to others?
What does it mean to heal when you don’t necessarily want to go back to the person you were before cancer?

For Caregivers:

Caregivers can spend so much time caring for someone else that their own needs get pushed aside. What did healing look like when you finally had space to think about yourself?
How has your relationship with your loved one, yourself, or your role as a caregiver changed as you both move forward?
What parts of the caregiving experience are you still processing?
Can healing happen when the person you cared for is still struggling? What does that look like?

Redefining Milestones (December 2027 Issue)

*Submissions due Friday, September 11th

Did cancer change the timeline you had imagined for yourself? What has it been like to watch life unfold differently than you expected?
Have you ever felt “behind” because cancer interrupted a milestone you thought you would have reached by now?
What would you tell someone who feels like cancer has put them behind their peers?
What milestone have you had to redefine because of changes to your body, relationships, career, fertility, finances, or future plans?
What accomplishment are you proud of that wouldn’t appear on a traditional list of life milestones?
Tell us about a moment when you realized, “I made it here.”
What milestone did cancer take away, postpone, or change for you?

For Caregivers:

As a caregiver, how has cancer changed the milestones you noticed or celebrate for youreslf?
What milestones have felt especially meaningful because you know what it took to get there?
How has caring for someone with cancer changed your own expectations for what the future should look like?

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