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Cancer
Infirmity Gave me a Reason to Believe
Adopting a life of spirituality to gain internal strength, resilience, faith, and optimism allows one to conquer the external yet strenuous trials and tribulations that life may present. At the age of 13, on my bed of affliction, my life changed forever.
Read More...“Why Didn’t You Ask for Help?”
“Why didn’t you ask for help?” Moving Beyond Shame and Into Community. This question was asked by a relative as we were packing my family’s apartment in preparation for moving into our new home, and I have been thinking about it since.
Read More...Faith is a Feeling
It’s late at night, but I feel like writing. Throughout my day I’ve scrolled through The Cancer Patient Instagram stories. The topic has been primarily centered around religious people, and the stupid things they’ve said and the myriad of ways we’ve been hurt by them.
Read More...My Place in the Family of Things
My Place in the Family of Things: How Nature Helps Me Cope as a Caregiver. “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” – Mary Oliver
Read More...From Melanoma to Mindfulness
Malignant melanoma. The words glowed back at me from my work computer screen as if they were highlighted in neon yellow. “That must be a mistake,” I thought, as I glazed through the remainder of the virtual pathology report.
Read More...The Gift
In many instances, we either tell ourselves or so desperately want to believe everything happens for a reason. We usually associate that phrase when experiencing something negative or dreadful. The most common question we ask ourselves is “Why?”
Read More...The Botany of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
It’s a wonderful coincidence that elephants are my favorite animal. My elephants, my cancer, were lurking inside my private rooms. I’d been very reluctant to go public, to put a big reveal out into the world that I have breast cancer. I didn’t want to post an announcement online about my cancer.
Read More...Serenity in the Big Ditch
Adversity creates a yearning for serenity. With struggle a calm moment is desired, and the appreciation for when it occurs is significant. I first found whitewater learning to kayak in Glacier National Park with First Descents. Anxiety was a real concern I had with anything done around that time.
Read More...Prescription of Nature
I’m tired. Like to-the-bone weary, at a point where I switch into autopilot mode and float, not present in the moment, or really in the past or future, just tired. So, let’s talk about how I got here. It’s a mix of a glorious adventure in nature and sterile walls and fluorescent lights all in the matter of a week.
Read More...The Overlook
Everything is so green. That’s what I remember thinking on the ride back to my apartment after my hospital stay. Being someone who enjoys spending time outside, two weeks of being stuck inside four white hospital room walls with a window overlooking a city street was pretty much torture, especially after a leukemia diagnosis.
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