Skip to main content

Random Freewrite Challenge - Art, Life, Death

This morning, I woke up and didn’t come to my computer immediately, so before I knew it, the day had slipped by without me writing a blog post. Late afternoon, I found I missed the writing, but so much has happened (mentally, emotionally, physically) in the past 72 hours, I discovered the creativity was missing. So I decided to just freewrite some random thoughts (and questions) of the day as my challenge. If you’re struggling to write, I challenge you to try a freewrite – they always help me. 



I thought once I was done with all my chemo treatments, I’d be done with doc visits for awhile. But June has been full of them, and this week, four of the five days are all doc visits, two of which weren’t scheduled until the last minute (including a Friday appointment that was scheduled today). I’ll give another health update next week, but there’s nothing to worry about. One appointment is Tim’s eye checkup, the others are mine.

Morning writing is so much easier, even though waking up earlier is a little more difficult.

I’ve realized this week, I don’t know how to rest. Vegging in front of a TV isn’t restful for me, but I haven’t figured out how to rest otherwise. Naps have become a nightmare – I used to love them so much, but now, a one-hour nap turns into insomnia of 4-6 hours, for days in a row, so I’m having to avoid naps completely right now.

It’s easier for me to write emails sometimes than it is for me to write blog posts. I yak away in an email.

I had the first book signing for The Pink Pages last night with a cancer support group I’d visited last month. I gave away one of the books then, and the woman who won it, told me she loved The Pink Pages, saying it was informative and helpful. Then she said something that touched me deeply, and even a provided a sense of relief. She said, “I liked the way you wrote the book. It was like we were having a conversation. It wasn’t technical, it was comfortable.” Precious words to hear.

As I mentioned in the last blog post, I lost a friend this week. After her death, I painted a picture and gave it as a door prize during my book signing. I first used it as a visual, when I told the ladies how crucial it was that we all support and encourage each other – we’re in this journey together.

The day after my friend’s death became pure chaos. Why does death bring out the worst in humanity? And even though I stressed it in my Healthcare Decisions post, I’ll say it again here – we are all going to die at some point. I am going to die. You are going to die. Period. So please, for the sake of all around you, for the sake of sanity – PLEASE write down your final wishes in detail and give copies to a few people you trust who would be the first people to know about your death.

Well, that’s my random freewrite challenge for the day. Where’s yours?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Photo Shoot for a Cause

Last month, Advent Health honored me by asking if I would be one of their "faces" during their "Pink Porch" campaign for Breast Awareness Month. They arranged for a photo shoot and an interview, and said I could invite anyone I wanted to be in the photos with me.  Without hesitation, I suggested Jess Bolton, my daughter-in-law, and Felicia Trawick, my nurse navigator-turned-friend. These two were with me every day of my cancer journey, either in person or by phone. God knew what I needed during that time because Jess and Felicia kept me laughing, and we're still at it, as you can tell from the photos below. The lovely and patient photographer, Emily Long, had us talk to each other, and to look at each other, and we just got silly. (Please note: these photos are the only time you'll see me NOT talking with my hands! Such a surprise to all of us!) It was a windy but fun day, and Zach, my son and Jess's husband, surprised and blessed me by coming, too.  Dur...

Our Home Health Care Experience

Blogging got away from me this summer. At the end of July, I got sick with what the doc eventually said was either the flu or covid, but it was too late to test by that time. Then Tim got sick and ended up in the hospital for a week with covid and double pneumonia. He’s home now and recovering well - I’m grateful and he’s happy to be home again. I decided to share our experience with home health care. Since all of this was new to us, I don’t know if our experience is the norm, but thought I’d share in case it’s all new to someone else. The hospital filled up while Tim was there, so once they got him on his feet without oxygen, they sent us home because they needed the bed. But they ordered Home Health Care, saying he needed physical therapy, and that’s what we expected. Tim left the hospital on the 19th. To simply things, I’ll list the dates and duties of Home Health below (we also had 3 doc appts scattered in the middle of all these dates, and perhaps only introverts and hermits like ...

Guest Post: No Time to Sit and Worry by V. Ronnie Laughlin

Earlier this year, TMP Books put out a call for submissions for two anthologies, requesting stories from cancer warriors/survivors, and from cancer caregivers. We received several submissions, but not enough to fill either book, so for now, the books are postponed. When I notified the writers who had submitted, one of them suggested running the stories on my blog, and I loved the idea. My goal was to share people’s stories, to give encouragement and hope to other cancer warriors and caregivers, so why wait? I’m sharing the stories each Tuesday, in the order they were submitted. Today, I welcome author V. Ronnie Laughlin who shares her atypical breast cancer journey from the Middle East, during the pandemic. No Time to Sit and Worry As I held the specimen cup in my hand with the breast biopsy sample glistening inside; I looked at it and it looked at me. It looked like a hydra, the long tentacled invertebrate with a gelatinous body. I do not know what possessed me to ask my Radiologist,...