Inspiration

Thanks for sharing on this great topic. I know what you mean about being in the mind -- it's not airy fairy at all! I had to learn that too :-) This is a great question and this topic is close to my heart. I agree with A Fresh Chapter that before cancer hits, you can be going along without really paying attention and kind of living inside your head. Cancer jolts you out of that. What do you want this life to mean? I didn't find a new dream as much as rediscover an old one. I had been writing poetry since I was a little kid and studied it a bit in college, and got the occasional poem published. Then it left me for some reason. I missed it but thought that part of my life was over. Cancer turned into a weird kind of muse--first poetry started speaking to me again, then I started writing again. And like before, I've had a handful of things published, which is gratifying because you want to find good homes for them. I'm so grateful to have that part of my life back.

There is a very creative art project called the Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project. The photographer and the artist do not get paid for doing anything, and the images come out beautiful. Each image is a painting representing a breast cancer survivor's journey. And they give some proceeds to breast cancer charities. You can see some of them on Cafe Press:
http://www.cafepress.com/BCABPP This is a great question! Let me say up front that I am not a breast cancer survivor...but art played a large role in my late husband's healing journey when he was going through Hodgkin's Disease.

Art can be an incredibly empowering outlet both in the images we choose to have around us or in actually creating art of our own. For me, it was a greeting card with soft blues and greens and the word "Breathe" handwritten on it that reminded me even on days when we were facing hard times with Gary's illness that I could center myself by taking a breathe. It really helped me manage my stress levels.

I've written a series of articles on art, healing and creativity that explores this subject and also features four of Gary's paintings. The one I love that helped me most after he died is called One With the Universe. You can read them on Kota Press' Blog:
Part 1 - The Source - http://kotapress.blogspot.com/2010/06/sourcea-guest-post-by-tambre-leighn.html

Part 2 - Quad Sun - http://kotapress.blogspot.com/2010/08/quad-sun-celebration-of-light-lifea.html

Part 3 - Indigo Dusk - http://kotapress.blogspot.com/2010/07/indigo-dusk-journey-to-present-guest.html

Part 4 - One With the Universe - http://kotapress.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-with-universeby-tambre-leighn.html