Worn-Out Genes: Why So Many of Us Have Cancer
Worn-out jeans are comfortable. Worn-out genes are not. We wonder why cancer is a raging epidemic. It’s not because of “cancer genes” or living longer. Cancer is the leading cause of death world-wide because our bodies are worn-out. I’ve learned this the hard way,...
Cancer and the Fire Breathing Dragon
illustrations by Mark Domann “I imagine you sitting still in the face of a fire-breathing dragon. Hair rustled back with the force of all the air. Knowing you are perfect. You are safe. You have a deep knowing that is accurate. It is not a dragon.” – Michelle...
Empathy across Time and Space through Music
Tori, Hollis*, and I share openly and honestly about life, death, cancer, and the transcendent power of music in this global music therapy conference. Click here to watch. *Another client of Tori; Hollis passed from pancreatic cancer just as I was beginning treatment...
Election Empathy, No Matter How You Voted
"This first episode is SO timely. Jackie and I discuss the election, empathy, what we do when we disagree with someone and how we can do family better in the midst of this pandemic. It's the perfect way to center your mind and heart." - Jessica Do we have an answer?...
Empathy and the Police – Voices For Change Podcast
Thanks to Danita Harris for an enlightening, timely, and succinct conversation about empathy and the police. "We are dealing with a pandemic, racial reckoning, an election, natural disasters and remote learning. We are stressed to the max and trying to find successful...
Resilience – Yes! And…
“My cancer marker is still going down, now with natural healing.”- Jackie (mom) “I expect nothing less.” – Sophie (daughter) If you told me a year ago that I’d be thrilled to watch my eyelashes grow back in, I would have been horrified. But it’s true. Such is the...
Looking Cancer in the Face, We Find Hope
Jackie on left with active ovarian cancer, January 2020 – 3 weeks prior to diagnosis “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won't have a title until much later.” -Bob Goff Do you know someone who has battled cancer? I hope it’s not you...
What Does Freedom Mean to You? – A Taste of Music Therapy
"The LIft" “In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” – Victor Frankl, Austrian...
Choosing Life Over Fear
LeMay Family 2007 and 2020 "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” – Nelson Mandela Do you remember quotes? I usually don’t, but some version of that one has been on the tip of my tongue for decades. I’ve been afraid many times. Stepping onto a...
Why I Have Cancer and How I am Healing: Empathizing with Our Bodies
How are you today? “I am well in all the ways that really matter.” – Akua (aka Mary Alice) Saunders MEd, MSN, CNS My body knows why I have ovarian cancer. I’m finally listening, so now I do too. I didn’t get the answers from Western medicine, functional medicine, or...
The Healing Power of Music is Empathy
“I will get well not out of fear of dying, but out of the joy of living…and self-expression.” – Belleruth Naparstek, Health Journeys Meditations, “Fight Cancer” Has music ever made you feel less alone? I hear it. I see it. I feel it…differently now. Music therapy is...
The Superpower of Empathy – Interview with Lila Lazarus
Lila Lazarus and I talked about #empathy, #leadership, family, coronavirus, ovarian cancer...and more. I loved every second of our conversation, even the hard parts. Making people feel safe, seen, and heard is an empathic superpower that Lila has in spades. It has...