Daphne odora marginata

There is a sort of comfort in imagining that we have control over the world. Better to blame ourselves for becoming mortally ill than to truly experience the helplessness of accepting randomness and chaos. “If I were doing things right, I wouldn’t have cancer.”

But in fact, having a human body; living on this physical plane, with all it’s loveliness, requires that we are going to experience pain and illnesses. No way around it. The pain – that IS living. The pain is just much Living as the sweet odor of the Daphne odora cutting through a raw February morning.

I eat to honor my body – it is Healing for me to eat one way and it is non-Healing, or less Healing, to eat a different way. I understand that eating one way or another will not keep me “safe” from cancer. Beautiful, vibrant food given to me by Mother Earth MAY keep me healthier in my physical body. It CERTAINLY will taste delicious and be nutritious for my hard working body. It will not keep me “safe” from all disease and ultimately, death.

I exercise to honor my body. Movement is my birthright – my body feels better and Heals more easily when I move it regularly. Regular exercise will not guarantee that I will not get cancer again, but it MAY help me to enjoy my living days more deeply.

I sleep regularly to honor my body, which needs rest to Heal. Sleeping regularly may not keep me “safe” from cancer, but it does allow me to greet the next blessed day with a calmer heart and spirit and renewed cellular function.

I meditate also. Sitting in the garden for an hour a day is not going to prevent me from getting cancer. I do it because it creates a space where I can honor my life, to really reflect on the breath – this breath – and this one –  that feeds my every cell. Meditation does not prevent cancer, but it makes the LIVING more vital, more worth the trouble.

And there will be trouble! Guaranteed.