Stepping out of the Shadows

Welcome to my blog! I've been thinking about doing the blogging thing for a long time, but I never really had a focus for it. It seemed a bit narcissistic just to ramble on about my worldview, and I realized that if I didn't have a purpose for it, it would just become a boring diary. And who wants to read that? But I ran across the sunlight and shadow quote from Emerson the other day, and it immediately hit home for me. I figured I better save that blog name right away. (It is amazing how many good blog names are taken! If I hadn't acted fast, I probably would have had to settle for "Standing in the Non-Darkness" or something.) So, here I am, jumping right in.

Most anybody reading this probably already knows my recent story, but for those of you who don't, I am a breast cancer survivor (stage III cancer, diagnosed in June 2007.) I did the whole mastectomy, chemo and radiation thing, and I've got one real breast left, and one fairly reasonable facsimile. It wouldn't fool anybody on close inspection, but on a cloudy day from a distance, you'd probably never notice the difference. I learned a heck of a lot about myself, about health and nutrition, and about the mind-body connection during this journey. I learned that I couldn't control everything, but I could control what I put in my body, on my body, and my attitude. I learned to turn my face away from the shadow of cancer to the sunshine of life that was there all along.

My mother-in-law is now facing lung cancer, and I hope that I can help her step out of the shadows. I guess that's what this blog is going to be all about; the things I do that make me feel good. Maybe they'll make you feel good too.

For starters, I can't help but smile looking at the picture of these two little cousins, in their matching pjs, having way too much fun to sleep.