Cancer
When Cancer Stole My Voice, Mindset Helped Me Find It
Talking about mindset feels like a minefield when it comes to cancer survivorship, but I’m going to do it anyway. In a world where we as cancer patients and survivors are constantly bombarded with toxic positivity and sentiments such as “Just Stay Positive” or “Everything Happens for a Reason,” the one suggestion that felt somewhat helpful to me (relatively speaking) was to “Take Things One Day at a Time.”
Read More...Secret Side Effects
Today my right, big toenail fell off. I had just given our new puppy, Lola, a bath, when I felt a catching sensation of my bare foot on the carpet. I pulled my foot out from under me to see that the toenail had lifted. ‘Great!’ I thought, as I rolled my eyes to myself.
Read More...Untangling Survivorship Together
At the end of May 2005, my boyfriend Andrew was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL). He was twenty-two years old. I was twenty-three. Of all the things we were supposed to worry about in our early twenties, cancer was not supposed to be one of them.
Read More...Notes on Mindfulness
A few years ago, if you said the word mindfulness, my eyes would roll so hard they would end up in the back of my head. Especially since the most anxious person in the world, my father, is the one who suggested mindfulness meditation to me.
Read More...On Feeling Un-F***ed with Mindfulness
I just got back from co-leading a mindfulness in nature retreat in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with a group of eight incredible young adult women from across the country who didn’t know each other before they arrived, but are all card-carrying members of the same exclusive club to which none of them wants to belong.
Read More...Mindfulness Takes Center Stage
It’s raining right now, and you’d think this would be the perfect atmosphere to write this piece. I have soft, relaxing music playing, and I can hear the pitter patter of the rain outside. Despite all this, I find writing this to be extremely difficult. I’m not used to reading my own work aloud, and the idea of doing so makes me second guess each sentence I type out.
Read More...Unpacking Mindfulness
Mindfulness. Is it a state of being? Understanding? I’m not quite sure, but I think I have finally gotten there. By there I mean a state of mind where I’m not filled with fear or anxiety of what’s next, but rather comfortable with the decisions I have made so far.
Read More...Grief vs. Belief
Life-changing events have come and gone on several occasions in my 33 years; my dad’s dementia, Mum’s fractured pelvis, and my brother’s stage IV lymphoma. Some have come and not quite gone, too – my own brain tumor still hangs around like a (thankfully now small) reminder, and that’s what led me to Elephants and Tea!
Read More...Living My Best Ostomate Life
These days when someone gives the advice to “live your best life,” many might associate the phrase with celebrity journalist and talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, who began using it regularly on her show and in O Magazine beginning in 1998.
Read More...Does It Get Easier?
Does it ever get easier? I walked on the beach for a few miles. My knees have hurt ever since. I drove for a quick work trip to Columbus. My back is in pain. I went to a baseball game. And packed my own food to eat.
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