Reflections with Rachel
Rachel uses her writing to reflect upon what her cancer experience was like and how it has shifted her world since then. In June of 2018, Rachel was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the end of her freshman year of college. The aftermath of chemo and radiation created a space of anxiety and depression for her, and she wants to open conversation about hard topics related to cancer. Come alongside her and taken a peek into this college student’s cancer journey, chronicling times in and out of treatment.
When Your Life Becomes the Story: Poetry and Prose
The thing about the stories we read or watch is that there’s typically an ending. You can wrap the plot up in a tight little bow and be done with it. That’s not life. We are continuously growing and changing and recreating our own narrative. I definitely have trouble with that concept; if I had my way, I would just skip to the end: the parts where I’ve recovered emotionally from cancer and have put the pain of the past completely behind me.
Read More...This Is My Reality
Until now, I haven’t realized that, two years after my cancer diagnosis, once I’ve reached that state of running on empty, a lot of unresolved anger about cancer resurfaces. I’ve tried to tuck it away for so long, but I have to face it eventually. I remember how angry I was when I had to do more chemo. That was when I knew I had to take a semester off of school. I would have to miss out on time with friends and just living like a normal college student.
Read More...Picture Perfect is Overrated
I’ve realized that things are never going to be picture perfect. Some days that I thought would be not a big deal meant the world to me. And other days that I put so much into, were underwhelming. I can’t control what the outcome of anything is going to look like, and I’m learning to be okay with that.
Read More...Crocs and Socks: Bringing Hope Through Treatment
I stood in front of my dresser with the top middle drawer sitting open, filled with multicolored socks galore, pulling them out one by one. Trying to find pairs and match them, I was reorganizing for the first time in a long time.
Read More...Do The Thing, Even If You’re Not Exceptional
Do the thing. As I sit in my backyard listening to the calming music of artists like dodie and mxmtoon, I don’t know what to write. This is supposed to be my spot, my place where inspiration strikes and my writing flows.
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