This has been a year of challenges and changes and creative solutions. Like many of you, Healing Journeys has adapted to an online world. We have just completed our third book group on Zoom and will be starting another one in January. I wondered if an online group could feel as intimate and bonding as our in- person gatherings have been, and I’m happy to say it has. One advantage is that it can include people from all over the world. Our last group included people from Virginia, St. Louis, Norway, Northern and Southern California, and Indiana.

We have been reading The Story You Need to Tell, by Sandra Marinella, and Sandra has been facilitating the group with me. Writing is not required as part of the group, but it is encouraged. In our last session, everyone read something they had written during the 6 week group. What a potent experience it was to hear the strong voices of these powerful women. I’m including in this email a poem written by Susan Lugo, one of the participants in our most recent group. I hope you feel empowered and inspired by it, as I was.

Another thing I am doing on Zoom (or on the phone) is counseling/coaching with people, at no charge, facing a new diagnosis of cancer or a recurrence. I don’t provide medical advice, but I can listen and ask questions and provide some insights from my own experience. Thanks to the “magic” of Zoom, I just finished my fifth meeting with a woman living in London.

There are expenses involved in providing these services, so we are again asking for donations. Giving Tuesday will be celebrated on December 1st, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. We are deeply grateful for your support of Healing Journeys. You can make a safe and secure donation here: https://healingjourneys.org/support-us/donate/

It feels especially imperative this year, in the midst of so much to feel anxious about, to focus on gratitude. In many of the online webinars I’ve listened to about cancer or healing, they have encouraged keeping a gratitude journal as part of a healing regimen.

During this Thanksgiving season, I wish for all of us an abundance of gratitude. It’s one step toward our mission: to support healing, activate hope, and promote thriving.

As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.