LIVED EXPERIENCE

THIS WEEK I’M TIRED, BUT IN A REALLY GOOD WAY. I DISCOVERED A FEW MONTHS AGO I’VE BEEN HOLDING OFF ON SOME THINGS…IT SEEMS THERE WAS A PART OF ME THAT WAS STILL IN CONFLICT ABOUT HOW LONG I WOULD ACTUALLY BE HERE. A POOR EXCUSE FOR WAITING, IF YOU ASK ME. SO THIS MONTH…THE LAUNCH OF A NEW WEBSITE, A SANCTUARY LIVING RETREAT, THE START OF A PATIENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM…OH, AND DID I MENTION, A PUPPY!

Have we misunderstood that the knowledge we can offer the world is mastered in some online course or seated in a conference hall? What I have to give isn’t taught but lived, body and spirit engaged right along with the mind.

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There is no certificate for what I’ve been through. No diploma for Surviving Cancer. No course work entitled, “How to Loose Your Hair,” or “How to Deal with a Difficult Diagnosis Without Losing Your Mind.”

Going Through It is the curriculum I’ve mastered.

A curriculum you’re probably familiar with too.

I wonder if you discount the hard moment as something to hide away,

concealing your grief and suffering as yours alone to endure?

This journey of unimagined twists and turns, of sleepless nights and needles prodding, is not some cosmic calamity brought upon me although the tendency is sometimes to question and to blame. But if I am wise I view this path, stretching long and endless before me as not something done to me but the most breathtaking part of who I am.

IN THIS MINDSET, I BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE MY JOURNEY NOT THROUGH THE EYES OF SOJOURNER BUT AS THE PATH ITSELF. I AM NOT BEING BLINDLY LED BUT POINTING THE WAY.

How extraordinary that after three years of soaking up all the knowledge about this disease that I can, of all the qualifications necessary to enter into a coveted Patient Advocacy Program, Lived Experience is at the top of the list.

To be relevant on any level [no matter the subject] we must be Willing. To. Go. Through—
Eyes wide open,
Feet firmly planted,

All of who we are fully in the game.

My heart explodes with this affirmation that our trials aren’t some test or preparation for some coming moment but the moment itself.

When we agree to observe, understand, and integrate both good and bad into the framework of the everyday, the world stops taking us by surprise. Our victim mentality shifts. We are prepared in every way for what’s ahead. And we own the take aways.

Our lived experience holds more value than the head knowledge of a thousand lifetimes.
Our willingness to engage with the hard moment holds a kind of power that denial never could.
Our ability to replace fear with fascination opens our eyes to see from a different point of view.

What we go through is not a distraction or departure from our lives but the essence of life itself.

WHAT HAVE YOU ENDURED THAT QUALIFIES YOU?

Our pain is not a competition. It is a bridge. This shared humanity is what draws others in. Our obsession with misfortune isn’t a reflection of some despicable weakness but a hunger for evidence of our strength.

WHAT EVIDENCE WILL YOU GIVE?

My stage IV cancer is not really a journey of the body. It is a fantastic adventure of the inner recesses of the heart and mind. In the hardship what tragedy it would be to leave the best of me—the curiosity, tenacity, optimism—behind.

I refuse to numb myself or look away. The only mandate life presents is to be fully engaged. Why wouldn’t I be? Why would I waste my precious time?

NOTES:

I am thrilled to tell you that the culmination of my journey, shared on the pages of this Journal, happened this week. That is, this November I will enter a professional Patient Advocacy program that will equip me to walk others through the hard moments in their lives.

This work will complement my writing and design, rounding out Sanctuary Living as a Lived Experience philosophy/company integrating body, mind, spirit, environment to come alongside clients to identify, and then LIVE the life you long for.

How fun is that?!

Here’s where I ask you, what Lived Experience do you have that is not only meant to teach and empower you but intended to help others along the way?

This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to hear.
Share in the comments or send me an email.

LIVED EXPERIENCE EMBODIED.  BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.