Reeling and Healing Midwest Blog

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe

…I would fly fish.

…I would be treated like a queen.

…I would make new friends.

…I would be able to share my story.

…I would be accepted for who I am, right here, right now.

…I would overcome so much doubt.

…I would laugh so much.

…I would find healing through nature’s beauty.

…I would have so much fun and experience joy.

Thank you for guiding me to renew my spirit and hope. I will forever keep the retreat adventure close to my heart and find on-going great strength from my experience in the river.

FISH ON!

-A Very Grateful Participant

A great new article has been published talking about Reeling & Healing Midwest and how it helps survivors on their healing journey. Our own Ruthanne T. is quoted.
Read the full article here.

EIGHT HIGHLIGHTS of HEALING

- Healing is a lifelong journey toward wholeness.

- Healing is remembering what has been forgotten about connection, and unity and interdependence among all things living and nonliving.

- Healing is embracing what is most feared.

- Healing is opening what has been closed, softening what has hardened into obstruction.

- Healing is entering into the transcendent, timeless moment when one experiences the divine.

- Healing is creativity and passion and love.

- Healing is seeking and expressing self in its fullness, its light and shadow, its male and female.

- Healing is learning to trust life.

From The Four-Fold Ways

A woman in harmony

with her spirit

is like a river flowing.

She goes where she will

without pretense and arrives

at her destination,

prepared to be herself

and only herself.

You know who you are,

where you have come from

and where you are going.

You show such grace

and assurance and

I am glad to know you.

-Maya Angelou

In the presence of women - I feel at home, comfortable,relaxed

___________

In the presence of women - I see foreheads soften, smiles widen, eyes glisten, hearts soar and souls touch

___________

In the presence of women - words of wisdom tumble, laughter is unleashed, creativity exudes

___________

In the presence of women - I can smell muffins baking, coffee brewing and sweet perfume

___________

In the presence of women - wrinkles are beautiful, soft tummies acceptable, laughlines delightful

__________

In the presence of women - breezes are gentler, colors are brighter, friendship is magical, flowers dance and the sun shines

____________

So sit often, in the presence of women

____________

-Tess Marshall

And this Queen did wear them when she fished in her waders and waxed Barbour coat.

It cannot cripple LOVE

It cannot shatter HOPE

It cannot corrode FAITH

It cannot destroy PEACE

It cannot kill FRIENDSHIP

It cannot suppress MEMORIES

It cannot silence COURAGE

It cannot invade the SOUL

It cannot steal ETERNAL LIFE

It cannot conquer the SPIRIT

I believe in mind over matter.

I believe in the human spirit to prevail.

I believe in miracle, and blessings, both great and small.

I believe in possibilities.

I believe that hurdles in life are meant to be jumped over, not as something to stop us.

-B. Burns & G, Harris from RPG.

When a person is diagnosed with cancer you never truly know how they feel until you have walked in their shoes. Sometimes we try so hard to be strong. We don’t want others to see how weak we really are.

We don’t want to be a burden. But those who love you want to do anything they can to help you. Please let them show you how much you are loved. Your whole life changes in many different ways. The one thing to remember is to take “One day at a time!”

You are never alone through this battle. God is with you every step of the way.

-Kim O.

Well, there she is all over the news, being interviewed and questioned. Elizabeth Edwards. One more woman surviving breast cancer, working hard to take back her life from her first battle, fighting past the underlying fears of ���will it come back again���, even writing a book about the support she has received and her endeavor to help others struggling and surviving cancer.

And there she is now, diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in her bones.

I met Elizabeth last fall at the Lance Armstrong Foundation���s Inaugural Summit on Cancer Survivorship. She was the last speaker to take the stage, share her story, share her inspiration, share her future goals, share how her life had changed for her family and herself, and more.

The portions of her speech I will never forget are those that were peppered with the letters written to her from individuals - cancer survivors and caregivers - whom she had never met. The anonymous writers had reached out to her to share simple thoughts and stories of their journey, acknowledge her courage and hope, to bolster her resolve and encourage her to fight, to share their prayers with her, and most importantly, to let her know that she wasn’t alone on her journey.

Those words produced flashbacks of the women I have met at our retreats - who have journeyed through their battle and survivorship - and not alone. Each of them, on their own terms, found purpose in sharing their stories, sharing their hope and their choices with those they met along the way - on and off the river. Their outreach and comfort prevail onward and are there whenever called forth.

I have lost friends who, having battled their cancer the first time and claiming a triumphant win, were later diagnosed with more havoc within their bodies. These men and women continued on their own way - some by beating the disease once again, some by making the best of their last days, some by subjecting themselves to clinical trials, some by knowing after a span of months or years, that it was time to stop taking the pain killers and the medication - that the disease had become extremely relentless and wasn’t going to loosen its hold - ever. Each has been a hero, an inspiration. Each has been courageous and beautiful. Each is similar to Elizabeth.

Who are we to question what their choices should be? With 3 out of 4 families affected by cancer in our nation, with the possibility of 1 out of 2 men contracting cancer in their lifetime, and 1 out of 3 women contracting it as well, don’t you think they should be making their own decisions and living their life on their own terms?

I applaud Elizabeth for sharing her story and undergoing the scrutiny from the public and media. At times our media seems to be as relentless as cancer. However, the good to come from her telling/sharing her story is that our community is becoming more aware of the havoc that cancer does cause, the good that is being done to prolong life and survivorship, and hopefully it will open new doors, understanding and research so we can rid the world of cancer altogether.

And as I applaud Elizabeth, I applaud all the survivors, caregivers and advocates I know, and have known, who share their stories, reach out to lend a hand, give support to the best of their abilities, and encourage hope and life on their own terms.

Fish On!