Relating

I think there are probably more states represented, but I only recently started to find out where the visitors to this blog are coming from. It definitely has a cool factor to see so many countries.

I don't know that everyone shows up here because of the topic "cancer," but if they show up, there apparently is something of interest that brought them here. And I think that is pretty awesome. I want this blog to be about more than "just" cancer. That is why cancer isn't even in the title of this blog. 

I want this blog to be about LIFE - one element of which can be living with a greater awareness of cancer and life and death than most people have. There is so much more to me than a diagnosis. and there is so much more to life than we often acknowledge.

Being at peace with life - it would seem - is to be at peace with the myriad of pieces of life. And the many that we pretend not to notice, or we ignore, does not a peaceful feeling entice.

Peace can come from many things, and one of them - I would suggest - is a greater awareness. The more something is separate and distinct from us, the less connected we are with it. And the less connected we are with something, the less we relate to it. And the less we relate to it, the more foreign and scary it can be.

Given how prevalent cancer is, it seems to me that we would be much better served as a society if we had a better relationship with it. Interestingly, I said I didn't want this blog to have cancer in its title, but if I did, it would be "relating to cancer," just like my domain name because that is exactly what I am doing. I am having a relationship with cancer. 

And if you know someone who is dealing with it, you, too,  are having a relationship with it. You may not think so, especially if you don't think you are handling it well, but we still have relationships with people that we don't handle well, and it's called "dysfunctional." So you could very much have a relationship with it, just not necessarily a good one.

Life is so good at giving us stuff to look at and interact with - especially the stuff we would rather not.

I could have been quite happy to get through life without cancer ever personally showing up. And the same might be said of those that have caused me pain in my life. At the same time, I can see value in so much that has happened. Yes it sucks, too. But there have been some amazing things that have come out of some very painful circumstances.

I won't go as far as to call it a "gift," unless you want to call it one of those gifts you didn't really want. And unlike a gift, cancer, like many of life's uncomfortable, unwanted, experiences, is unable to be so easily disposed of.

The beauty of life is that it is constantly creating itself. You may not have any desire to connect with that relative of yours, in the same way that you have no desire to connect with the topic of cancer. And that is fine. At the same time, you did show up here for whatever reason you think you did, and because of that it is my hope and desire that you find ways to connect with me, as a person, as an individual, and as someone who wants to do more than just take up space in the world.

The fact that you are showing up here means that there is something connecting you to my pages, and I think that is pretty darn awesome - even if you never choose to come back. I just hope you get what you came for - and maybe even leave with something unexpected.

I hope you are enjoying the preciousness of your day.

with JoLoPe*

Elizabeth

*JOyLOvePEace