Now I laugh, but I remember two weeks ago, when it felt as if I had
been sick for years. Health is a gift that you don't know that you
possess until it fades, or falters, and maybe you have to suffer like I
did to appreciate the kind of breakthrough I recently had. Giving a
character of mine a child with cancer was a difficult decision. I didn't
want any real life echoes haunting me later, and before I Googled
common and rare types of pediatric cancer, I thought through what I
wanted to do. Often times, I let the mood carry me in the story, but I
try to remember to give people the unexpected, and I'm hoping that if
the author didn't see it coming, my readers won't either.
I've been experimenting with interjecting humor into scenes. That's
been fun because what I write is often dark, and complicated. I need
those fresh air bursts of laughter to sweep away some of the tension
that surrounds my characters. As I sat there thinking, I decided that if
a child of mine was diagnosed with cancer, then I wanted to know as
much as I could about it beforehand. Having been through a
hospitalization with my daughter this past summer, and a lesser illness
with my youngest in the fall, I wanted to address these types of
situations because they are real, and anyone with children has been
through a time where their child was their immediate concern, and
biggest priority in a world that has been shaken to the parenting core.
I joined E2 five years ago, and I'm still grateful that I have a
place to log into, where I can write whatever I want, and get incredible
feedback from insightful and perceptive people. Since then I've
branched out into other social media venues. I have over a thousand
followers on Twitter, I just signed up for Vine, and I remember
hearing about Jack Dorsey's new company Square back when I was still
working. A friend of a friend uses it to sell her artwork, Dorsey told
an interviewer that he thinks it will change the way people handle
money, and for small business owners who are counting every penny, I see
it as a way for them to save a few pennies on credit card transactions.
The other day I got a check that was bigger than my paycheck. I'm
still thinking about what I want to do with it. I could save it. I could
spend it. I could invest it in myself, or I could buy things that I
think my children need. After listening to the author speak about his
experiences in Heathrow, I'd like to read A Week In An Airport. Flying
has been of special interest to me lately. A character of mine is a
flight attendant taking flying lessons, and that's something I'd like to
do someday. I've been told that I'm meticulous enough to fly, so it's
on my list of things to do when I run across more money than I have now.
My quest for information on childhood cancers led me to a YouTube
interview that has probably changed my life forever. Both men speaking
had been afflicted by cancer, and listening to them was a fascinating
journey into a world I haven't experienced. They were speaking about a
revolutionary doctor who prescribed things for his patients as
individuals, stating that people are different, and what works for one
may not work for another. I wanted to learn more about the protocols
they were describing, so I started Googling again. Roger Bezanis has a
book called pH Madness that I'd like to read, I'd like to read The Clitoral Truth after finding an excerpt online, and I'd like to put together a cookbook of my own based on the things I'm doing with my family that draws from what other people have discovered about health and nutrition.
The sites I found described catabolic foods, anabolic foods, and the YouTube video discussed how to determine which ratios were right for a particular
individual. Back in 2003 I bought Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program. At
the time I followed some of the things that he said, but eventually, I
set the cookbook aside as another dust collector in my kitchen, but I
remembered that I had it, and I'm once again blown away by how different
information is from knowledge. Had I only understood what that book was
trying to convey at the time, my life would have been so different. But
I can't go back, I can move forward though by continuing to read more
about nutrition, and discovering what works for me, and the people I
know.
So here's my new plan, and I'll try to remember to keep people
updated because this is going to be really incredible if it works. My
blood type is AB+, my husband is O. So I'm guessing that my children are
either A, or B, and based on things that I've read, I'm going to put my
oldest daughter on a high calorie, high fat, high protein diet, and my
youngest on a mostly vegetarian diet where her fruits and vegetables are
either high in fiber, high in water content, or high in both. We've
only been doing this for a few days, and I haven't had a chance to plan
out menus that are that divergent, but so far, it seems to be going
well. People are eating what I put in front of them without too much
complaining, and I've noticed that the girls are more even tempered
although they still have a tendency to fight like sisters can.
To switch gears for a bit, I'm going to start promoting more of what
I've written on Twitter. I got a fair number of responses on my Nivea
for Men post, and I have some ideas for future tweets and
collaborations. Recently I was invited to participate in a podcast on
journaling. I've signed up for a twelve week course on journaling with
passion, clarity, and intent, and I'm drawn back to an article a
baseball friend of mine wrote on Intent. More and more I see the world
as operating not at random, but in a pattern that we have yet to map,
predict, or control. After some time off, I'm going back to see my
therapist, and I'm really excited to tell her about my new ideas.
Things aren't perfect at home, nor will they ever be the way that I
would like them to be. This past weekend it was mostly me and the girls
hanging out. We had a lazy Saturday, and I got some quality cuddle time
in with both of them. The podcast was a ton of fun, it was exhilarating,
energizing, thought provoking, and I'm really looking forward to
learning more about how to write since it's as much a part of my daily
life as a conventional job would be. Previously, I thought that creating
music, sketching, and painting were limited to other people who
intuitively understood how to coax creations from inanimate materials.
Although I still believe that there is a natural inclination some people
have, I also think that people can be taught new skills.
Working with children, and doing crafts with them has shattered some
of my previous misconceptions about art, and creativity. My boss came in
to see how I did things on Friday. It was a bit disappointing to hear
some of the things she had to say, but I know that I'm relating to the
kids in a way that other people aren't, and that's good for all of us. I
have several projects that I'd like to move ahead with, and now it's
just a matter of organizing my time and energy around the things I want
done. Excitement, curiosity, and a yearning to learn more about the
world around me flow through my mind in streams and bursts, it's a wild
ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Cheers,
jess