Always Remember to Never Forget

In remembrance of Martin Luther King, JR -- he had a dream. He still has one, I know it. Keep it alive.

Today's Obvious Suggestion but: Get a book and write things down. When you feel good, when you feel bad, journal it down when you feel the urge or sometimes not. Scribble. Exercise your hands. It's yours to do with whatever you want. Make it simple. Thank people. Thank your God, pick one out, try one on, contemplate another's religious and spiritual views, thank the powers of good that heal. Thank Nature for its endless cycle of renewal.

Ok, here's one for you: Think about planted bulbs, flowers, and trees, and how they die off, dropping all leaves, looking so helpless and gone, but inside, they are resting, getting ready to burst forth again, then take your breath away in the warm, sunny spring with that beautiful neon green, budding with new leaves and flowers gently lifting themselves higher to the warm sunshine of Spring. And all you want is to lie back in the soft grass and sigh. Don't be like me and think about bugs, unless they are cute like butterflies and ladybugs.

Gooby enough for you yet? Ok, so try this quick fix instead: Eat one yummy cupcake with as much frosting as you like. Or a big teacake cookie shaped like a heart.

Everything has its cycle. So do you, and so does healing. What you are going through is physical and emotional. If you want to cry, you do it. But don't cry too hard, and you'll feel something hug you around the shoulders if you just get really still. I would if I could.

Draw a picture of a tattoo you might get one day. (Temporary tattoos are my goal. Love those basic, black Asian symbols.) Write down a number from 1 to 10 and make an animal out of it. The number 2 makes a good swan. Scribble down your favorite word over and over. It's up to you, ya know. Think about it, nobody like Monet or Mozart ever cared what anyone thought about their crazy scribblin's. They just did 'em.

A dear ol' friend of mine gave me an ink stamp with a golden retriever's head on it for Christmas, and I swear, just like in grade school, I give myself a 1, 2, or 3 Doghead day. Stamp stamp stamp. Don't I sound obnoxiously positive, but go with it. Then. you read back on it one day. Give yourself whatever you feel like, when you get really antsy on steroids or just being in your own body too much, read back on the good days you had because you have to look forward to good days that you think you'll never have again. But you will have good days. Again. My dear friend battling, unwavering that she is, a chronic disease head-on for over 2o+ solid years that I can count told me this, and she said it with a warm smile in her voice, a wonderful career helping people heal under her wings, and a life she has quietly crafted like a beautiful sandcastle at the warm sunny beach with two beautiful children to keep her on the run.

And another thing very important, Look Forward to Something. Example: My birthday's in 3 months (HINT HINT just kiddin'), incidentally the same 3-month length course of this second stage treatment, and I'll be damned if I don't celebrate it with a big slab o' rich, red velvet or almond buttercream cake and a nice glass of wine, possibly a nice White Bourdeaux -- something French, something I can't pronounce, but I saved the label for just such an emergency. I wish you could be there, and in a way, you will; and remember, you have a birthday, too, and you'll celebrate.

But you know, Valentine's Day is just a month away -- shoot for that. Any holiday that's just centered around candy and flowers and champagne, what's not to like? No significant other? Good news -- that just means more candy and flowers for you and me, baby.