The instant throbbing pain of stubbing your toe… those initial couple moments are agonizing. The sniffles, cough, and general all over misery of a common cold seem to come on at the most inconvenient times. The symptoms of the flu, let’s not even go there…each of us most likely have been nearly incapacitated by the unpredictable waves of a flu virus.
How do you handle the discomforts of pain or illness when they show up unwelcome at your door step? Each of us has our own unique pattern of coping with and healing from the inevitable reminders we are human. But what happens when you are faced with the diagnosis of an ailment that will most definitely alter your current path in life?
There are no wrong answers when it comes to the adoption of an attitude which will most focus your energy on fighting a potentially life threatening disease. But there are those, who when faced with news none of us want to ever hear, respond with such inspirational spirit you are moved to reassess your own personal burdens. Stimulating a realization that life is about how you wear it… we can concentrate on only the “bad hair days” of our existence or we can celebrate the ability to choose an “outfit” which expresses the gift of each new day.
When faced with the diagnosis of breast cancer, my dear friend Deidra taught me to celebrate each and every item in my daily “closet” of life. To not only wear my day, but “sport” it with style. To stamp a personal signature on every “accessory” life has to offer, whether it’s a diamond earring moment or as depressing as squeezing into the dreaded pair of “fat” jeans hanging silently at the back of the closet. Each breath afforded me is essentially mine to inhabit in any way I choose. In that lies the knowledge that I have the potential to inspire others unintentionally through the grace in which I carry my ever changing “mannequin” of life experience.
I learned of Deidra’s diagnosis through an email. Faced with the daunting task of calling and speaking personally with each and every person who cared for her was overwhelming. So she opted for a decidedly casually toned email, simply stating the sequence of events which lead up to her diagnosis of breast cancer. She then continued to share the honest, bare truth process of the rigors of her treatment in a subsequent series of life affirming diary like emails.
One email in particular announced in acknowledgement of the specific day she wouldloose her hair as a result of undergoing chemotherapy, she was going to seize the opportunity to live out a youth driven desire to “sport” a Mohawk. News of her spontaneous decision spread and eventually culminated in the birth of a Hawk-A-Thon. A fund raising event in which several co-workers cut their own hair into Mohawks as a show of support for Deidra and the other women in their lives that have battled breast cancer. Through the sponsorship of each proudly spiked head and generous donations by those fainter-hearted, Deidra’s authentic expression of spirit raised $12,650.00and still counting for the OHSU Cancer Institute. (Please visit Hawkathon.Org for more information.)
Deidra has shared herself in the essence of her personal beauty, she has shared her exhaustion & less mentioned side-effects of treatment. She has shared her bandana collection, she has shared her home in milestone celebration in her road to remission. But most of all, Deidra has blessed all of those who know her with her boundless spirit. Her ability to slip into whatever “outfit” best expresses her particular moment in time, including whichever life “accessory” is currently presenting itself.
In celebration of every woman whose life has been touched by breast cancer, we have put together The Spirit of Deidra 4-card set $25. A set of cards created to assist in spreading a shared knowledge of life’s most elemental expressions of spirit. (Defining Greetings included in The Spirit of Deidra set: Attitude, Beauty, Inspiration & Courage). $20 from the purchase of each card set will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization which was key to the early detection of Deidra’s breast cancer. (Please visit Komen.orgfor more information).
…it’s the end of the day, your son or daughter, niece, nephew or little cousin has just gotten out of the bath, but instead of putting on their pajamas, they put on their clothes, shoes and socks and gather a blanket. They kiss you on the cheek and tell you “goodnight” as they pass you enroute to the front door, to begin their night commute to safety.
In Northern Uganda, on their own accord, thousands of children leave their homes every night and travel miles and miles by foot in a commute to town. The children seek shelter there in verandas, bus parks and the cement basement floor of the towns’ hospital. There they sleep, as a dense human carpet of lost innocence. Before dawn, the children wake themselves and begin the commute back home to begin their day, one step at a time, in a resilient cycle of survival.
Fear is an understatement for children ranging in age from 5 to 14 years old in Northern Uganda. They are the prey of a rebel army called the LRA which for the past 17 years has been at war with the Ugandan government. In an inhumane effort to replenish their army, the LRA has taken to abducting children under the cover of night fall from the small villages these children call home. At age 5 a child is viewed useful enough to hold a gun and are initiated into this unwanted fate by paying witness to the killing of fellow abductees in a cruelly calculated process to quickly render them numb of feeling, terrorized into compliance and raped of their childhood. Trained to be brutal soldiers, these children’s future spells D-E-A-T-H, if not in the battle of war, then at the hands of their captor. In a span of 3 months, an estimated 2000 children are abducted.
In facing the harsh realities of a 17 year war state, many children are left orphaned, forcing them to choose the pursuit of survival over schooling, managing only the equivalent of a single meal a day. In the spirit of making the best out of what life currently has to offer them, they look to the larger global community for help.
Each and every one of us has the capacity to be another person’s heroand the cry of a child suffering from injustice knows no boundary. This is why we've put together The Night Commuters 4-note card set $25. It is part of our commitment to help send a “virtual” hug of support and smile of encouragement wherever it is needed most.
$20 from the purchase of this note card set will be donated to the Invisible Children, a charity devoted to uplifting hearts and inspiring a change for the children of Northern Uganda and all children that suffer silently and seemingly unseen. For more information on their compelling documentary and subsequent philanthropic activities please visit InvisibleChildren.Com.
