My life has been intertwined with Healing Journeys for the past 25 years, and my purpose in life felt like it was connected to the Cancer as a Turning Point conference. Designing the conference was the means for me to use my gifts to make a difference in the world. I’ve been questioning my purpose since we are no longer offering the conference (our last one was September, 2018).
Many people have suggested that I should hang out my MSW shingle and work with clients for a fee. Because of my 30 years of dealing with my personal cancer, and 25 years of vetting presenters for the conference, I have a lot of knowledge and experience to offer anyone entering the world of cancer. But I haven’t been comfortable with charging for my services because I know many people who need that help can’t afford it. I know how expensive it can be to manage cancer using integrative strategies.
In March, at our annual Healing Journeys Board retreat, we resolved my dilemma. What the board articulated for me is that my purpose is to share my humanity and hope with anyone who needs it. That’s not so different from what I was doing with the conference, but I’m feeling excited about the new avenues it opens up to accomplish it. There are three opportunities that we identified:
- I am available, at no charge, for conversations with anyone newly diagnosed, experiencing a recurrence, or just needing to talk to someone who has been there.
- We will continue to offer small workshops with a sliding fee scale.
- We plan to continue to post excerpts from past workshops and conference presentations on YouTube.
I’m asking for your continued support of Healing Journeys so we can employ these strategies to support healing, activate hope, and promote thriving. That’s been our mission for 25 years and it still fits. Our vision continues to be that EVERYONE touched by cancer or any life-altering condition be empowered to move from surviving to thriving.
The Big Day of Giving is coming up on Thursday, May 2, 2019. This is a day when 600 non-profits in the Sacramento area encourage giving. There are various prizes throughout the day that can increase the amount we receive. There are random $1,000 prizes associated with randomly selected donations.
There is also a prize each hour for the non-profit that has the most individual donors (you can’t be counted twice) during that hour. We have won that prize in the past, and need your help to win it again this year. If everyone reading this message makes a donation during the same hour, I’m confident we will win. The hour we have chosen is 3 to 4 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
Between 3 and 4 p.m. PDT on Thursday, May 2, 2019, please go to www.bigdayofgiving.org/healingjourneys and make a donation of any amount (minimum is $15). It’s the prize for the number of donors that we are after. Please ask your friends and relatives to join you. If you can’t do it during that hour, or even that day, you can schedule a donation any time, beginning April 15th. Your donation could be one they choose randomly to match with a $1,000 prize.
Thank you for your support. If you, or someone you know, needs the benefit of my cancer experience, please call me at 916-391-0549. I’m eager to share my humanity and hope with anyone who needs it.
As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.
In the Spirit of Healing,
Jan Adrian, MSW
Founder and Executive Director
Hi Ms. Jan and Ms. Terri Tate,
How are you both doing? I attended your last big conference in September 2018 and the Trusting Your Inner Guidance conference in October 2018.
I think of you both often especially when synchronicity is happening in my life. With Stage 4 MBC, at the age of 36, being awake on this journey has led me to both of you which is not a coincidence. My diagnosis has been a blessing and a gift in disguise.
I hope you are both doing well. I wish I can attend another one of your conferences soon. If not, then I will try and call to check in when I get the chance. I say this, because your mission to help survivors and “mets thrivers” is working for me. When I feel very low and just want to give up on some days, I google this site and all it takes is a simple quote or message from your link to give me hope again. So, thank you….for being here and for all that you do.
Warm regards,
Camilla Asuncion
Jan,
Thank you so much for offering this counseling service! You can charge on a sliding scale, you know. If I needed it, I’d think of you right away – and I wouldn’t mind paying what I could afford. (Would you include phone chats? I live in the S.F. East Bay, and getting to Sacto is a real shlep.)
I attended a few Healing Journey conferences over the years, volunteered a couple of times at a couple of your workshops and know Nancy McKay from our old “Cancer in Other Words” writing group. You are both inspiring women.