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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Day 40 of the 40 Day Art Journal Adventure!


So now I've done 40 days of collages in my little journal. "What next" was the question I posed on one of the three collages I did today. I'm not sure yet about the specifics of what I'll do. Here at the end, I pulled out my watercolor crayons (Neocolor II water soluble Caran d'Ache crayons) and my oil pastels (same brand as the watercolor crayons). I bought them several years ago, when I started my current job. They were on markdown at the campus bookstore, plus I got a discount above and beyond the sale price. I was thrilled with the purchase, so thrilled, I guess, that I thought I needed to put them away and not "waste" them on anything I did! I thought I didn't like them. I thought I couldn't use them. I guess, after nearly 40 days, I got a little freer and a little wilder and a little braver, so I used them. 

I found this quote in an article in "O" magazine (http://www.oprah.com/health/Katherine-Russell-Rich-On-Surviving-Stage-IV-Breast-Cancer/print/1) . She died of breast cancer in April 2012. She's one of my newest heroes. If you care to read the article, you might understand why.

I've been thinking lately of the October of 2016 I imagined back in October of 2011 when I was first diagnosed with colon cancer. I'd hope to be celebrating five years cancer free. Instead, I've weathered a second attack of colon cancer and breast cancer. Saying it, seeing it here on the screen, I feel like I sound a bit snake bit. That's not at all the way I feel. My prognosis looks good on all counts and I am grateful.

My five year anniversary didn't quite turn out to be the party I'd expected but that's okay. I don't know what might have been. I only know what is, right here, right now. I've been shaped and strengthened in the last five years. Katherine Russell Rich (read the article) said she learned, in times of uncertainty, to ask herself "How are you right now?" She said her answer was, "Fine. Stay right here, in this day, stay right here in your mind." I think that's mostly a pretty good place to be, "right here, in this day."

"What next?" You keep on living, you keep on doing. You don't spend too much time wondering how much time you might have. You put one foot in front of the other, and keep on moving the best you can.

(Yeah, sometimes that's easier said than done, I know.)

6 comments:

  1. "Just try it. Stay right here, in this day." After all, I only had to book the ticket, not meet 14 terrible fates.

    Good stuff. I had my routine breast MRI yesterday. I'm glad you are here at your five year mark even though the in between wasn't what was expected.

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    1. I'll take the five year mark any way it comes, Hope!

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  2. Love the quote about making it up as you go along. That's certainly my approach and this helps me feel less guilty about it.

    I'm sorry five wasn't the party you expected, but good gawd almighty, I'm glad we're all here to lament that fact. I'd be real pissed if your five year party was a wake. Trust me - we would say bad, bad things about you if you kicked off early. We would.

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    1. Glad to know I have averted being talked about by y'all!

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  3. I like making it up as I go along. It sounds so much better than my usual "flying by the seat of my pants" label. =) You know ... you still have survived that first bout for five years.

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    1. Yes, I have survived, Susan! And I'm grateful!

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