This post comes from a pop up writing workshop with Wildfire, "the only magazine and writing community for the women "too young" for breast cancer." I've written before about how I've been honored to have some of my writing published in various issues of Wildfire over the years (and will again in the upcoming MBC … Continue reading My Invisible Work …
Book Review: On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg
Recently, I read On Repentance and Repair; Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, and so many things that have been rattling around in my heart and mind have become more clear to me about these important topics. We all come from somewhere and my own experiences with the Christian interpretation of … Continue reading Book Review: On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg
Writing as Healing
It's hard to remember a time when writing in some fashion wasn't part of how I process the world and my place in it. When moving recently, I came across a box full of journals from various points in time and it was fascinating how much my writing and my processing has changed over the … Continue reading Writing as Healing
Setting Intentions
I have signed up at a variety of places over the years for emails and thus I get a ton of emails every day. Wading through my inbox the other day, I came across an email talking about setting intentions. Now, I'm most familiar with this term in the context of yoga, where we set … Continue reading Setting Intentions
Thinking about October, 2022
Every year around this time, I start to see lots and lots and lots of ads about breast cancer and breast cancer awareness -- to be honest, it starts earlier and earlier each year. October is the month that is set aside for Breast Cancer Awareness month (BCAM) and whenever I start to think that … Continue reading Thinking about October, 2022
Coping
Within the support groups that I attend and moderate, we often talk about coping; about living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) and how we do that. Sometimes I despair about how verbiage just doesn't match the MBC experience since it cannot fully describe the highs and lows that we all experience at one … Continue reading Coping
Mentors/Mentees
At various points in my life, I've benefitted from the involvement of a mentor, someone who is a bit farther along in life and perhaps a specific experience. I still keep in touch with many of the mentors I was serendipitously connected with at various points. Bottom line, my life was enriched in significant ways. … Continue reading Mentors/Mentees
Parenting and MBC, Part II, a Guest Post
I asked my dear friend, Amanda Raffenaud, a mom also living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer to help me with this series since she has older boys and her experience in parenting while dealing with a serious illness has been different from mine. On December 18, 2018, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic … Continue reading Parenting and MBC, Part II, a Guest Post
Parenting and MBC, Part I
When I was initially diagnosed in 2017 with Stage II breast cancer, my boys were one (1) and three (3). We were tandem nursing and as each of my boys were born, my parenting revolved around my breasts. Nursing was such a great way to resolve just about anything and I loved watching their bond … Continue reading Parenting and MBC, Part I
Imprinting
Recently, at the inaugural MBC Legacy Workshop with SurvivingBreastCancer.org, as we were discussing our definitions of legacy, one of the participants suggested that we could think of our influence on those around us as "imprinting." I immediately got distracted thinking of geese and ducks, which I know aren't the only animals who are influenced by … Continue reading Imprinting
No Half Measures 