Tag: cancer

Inspiration

Balancing Creativity with Responsibility

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Periodically, I post a past Substack entry here. This is from August 2024.

Last month, I talked to you about being in a writing slump. Thankfully, that disappeared, and I finished the 20+ revision of another Young Adult novel.

Life throws challenges at us when we least expect it, and lately, I’ve been feeling the weight of those challenges more than ever. My mom is 97 years old, and her physical health has deteriorated rapidly in the last year. Much to her chagrin, and after many battles, she is using a walker, but that hasn’t prevented any falls and subsequent trips to the emergency room. After scans, she’s discharged from the ER and, luckily, hasn’t had any broken bones.

But this time, there’s a suspicious spot on her pelvic bone. She may be facing a cancer diagnosis. I’ve already cried because I know what’s ahead. I’m a cancer survivor in remission for 17 years this November. This has brought every chemo and radiation pain back to me. I don’t want her to go through those side effects.

Still, the in-between has been difficult as we await further diagnostics to confirm or deny that the spot is cancerous.

As much as I want to keep my creative energy alive, the reality of caring for her and navigating this uncertainty has made it difficult. I know I’m not alone in this—many of us are balancing the demands of life with our creative passions, and it’s okay to admit that sometimes, it’s just plain hard.

Daniele Levis Pelusi

But I want to be honest.

Read the rest here:

https://monaalvaradofrazier.substack.com/p/balancing-creativity-with-responsibility
Breast cancer, Cancer, Empowerment, Faith, Fear, Healing, Hope, poetry, Stories, Writing

Empowerment through Poetry

Mona Alvarado Frazier

 

And-in-the-end-its-not

Lately thoughts of cancer have floated through my mind. The word is still with a lowercase ‘c’, but it’s there, in my daily life.

I’ve learned to not stuff disturbing thoughts down into my body or heart. They always pop up somewhere, like an evil jack in the box.

When I try to stuff the thoughts, the feelings associated with the word ‘cancer,’ morph into capital letters until the word is entirely in CAPS like it’s screaming out.

I remember a phrase I read from a book whose author I can’t remember:

Feelings are energies that can be moved and transformed.

When I first read that sentence I thought “Wow, that’s empowering.” I get to direct my feelings, move them around, and create something else.

I can stop the stories in my head and create a new story.

So I grab a piece of paper and write out my thoughts, examine them, and try to figure out if I’m feeling anger, grief, fear, or all three.

Many times it’s not necessary to find ‘the answer,’ only to feel the feelings and examine the threads that make the word stand up in my mind.

Sometimes I thread those words together until they become something else, something not scary or ominous.

 

Lowercase cancer

I remember when

cancer had me by the breast

the slash, poison, burn

 a bald toxic dump.

Nurtured by family

powered by faith

seeds of hope planted

until a garden grew

a wasteland no more.

Dare you to try again

been there and back

you will meet defeat

little c

because now I’m not afraid

to die, after I’ve lived

If poetry isn’t your thing, you can also examine or deal with negative feelings by practicing meditation, deep breathing, journaling, listening to your favorite music, drawing, or reading something inspirational.

The point is you can stop the negative feelings in your head and create a new story in your heart.

Make new stories this weekend.