This Writing Group submission was written by CSCLA Participant, Shannon Graham, with the prompt, “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” – Mary Oliver. If you left the door open to the unimaginable, what would you hope would walk through? Love. A few months before we knew your cancer had spread to your…
Category: Creative Writing Group
Letter to Cancer – by Valerie Gillet-Bourne
This Writing Group submission by CSCLA participant Valerie Gillet-Bourne was written with the prompt, “Write a letter to cancer.” I don’t want to talk to you, Cancer. You come rolling blithely into our lives, without introduction, just shoving your way in and then creeping around for months and years as we try to get you…
Greeting Card Writing Prompt – The “Cancer Card”
Writing Group submission by CSCLA participant, Ruth Brandt—a Los Angeles comedian who interpreted this writing prompt with humor. Enjoy reading! Writing Prompt: Imagine you are creating a greeting card for yourself. What would the front of the card say? OR, Design a greeting card for a life event that doesn’t usually get a card. The…
Before and After – by Andrew Williams
Writing Prompt: Many people describe life as having a “before” and an “after” when cancer enters the picture. Who were you before? Who are you today? How has this experience shaped your understanding of yourself? Before and after. Beginning and ending. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. There was once a time that these terms…
“Silence” – by Alexis Fish
Writing Prompt: “The answers you seek never come when the mind is busy, they come when the mind is still, when silence speaks the loudest” – Leon Brown “Silence! You are no longer welcome in my home or near my child.” Silence… No more invitations to Tuesday night dinner No more group text …
A Day Without Consequences – By the Mom of a Child with Cancer
A thought experiment An offer What if you had a day without consequences… An iced cold martini with olives at a hotel barIn real life,My sobriety app is reset to 0 days2 1/2 years down the drainBut not today!Not on the day without consequencesAnd it tastes sooooo good. Go deep into the Sequoia Nation Forest…
New Perspective – by Anonymous
I came to this space a bit reluctant. Even though I have journaled my entire life, I found it difficult to understand how this group would improve or change my personal reflections. I am a private person, and I do not like to share my thoughts with anyone unless I trust them wholeheartedly. I mainly…
“Being in the Writing Group” – by Anonymous
I love writing. Ironically, my cancer journey brought me back to writing. Despite the clouds brought about by this journey, writing seems to be the sun beneath it, like a blank piece of paper just waiting for the ink or for my fingertips to type the letters from my ever so busy brain. I remember…
“Letter to My Body” – Danielle Gruberger
My dear fragile yet resilient body, Look at you go! After years and years of a missing appetite, congratulations on your newfound enjoyment of meals with friends, appreciating food as fuel, quickly learning which foods do not serve you and adjusting intuitively. The way you have been reacting to fear and trauma just speaks to how deeply…
