Belonging beyond worlds
Published by Synkroniciti Magazine in Volume 6, Number 3, Katherine McDaniel, editor (September 2024)
Published by Synkroniciti Magazine in Volume 6, Number 3, Katherine McDaniel, editor (September 2024)
It’s been 18 months since a scan confirmed my remission status post-chemo, a year since I realised remission didn’t mean diving back into my old life as if nothing happened, and about 3 months since I started to feel significantly better and more like myself. Only once that happened did I realise how bad I’d … More On Health & Healing
As I sit in the woods, a strong smell fills the air,Pungent wild garlic; eyes close, I am there.On this bench, two years prior, where a call had me picked,Like a rose in her prime, to be told she was sick.A tumour, they’d told me, with no time for thinking,Just garlic’s strong stench; like my … More Wild Garlic
I’m celebrating my 31st birthday today, but in the world of cancer, I just turned 1. Give or take a month or two, it’s been a year since I entered remission. When I turned 30 last year, I assumed I could just throw myself back into life as normal – after all, I had just … More It’s life Laura, but not as you know it
They say I am the lucky oneNow that cancer’s come and goneAlthough that’s how it is depictedTruthfully, I feel conflictedMy hopes were swallowed with my dreamsAnd even now my body screamsIt took more than I could giveBut left me with the chance to live I must be the lucky oneFor others cancer came – they’re … More The Lucky One
Thoughts on Confronting Cancer in your Twenties A decade of transition and uncertainty If you had to pinpoint one word to define your twenties, it would probably be transition. I have friends who are in full-time education, full-time work, full-time work and part-time education, living alone, living with friends, living with family, renting, meeting with … More On Young Adults & Cancer
Reflections on Six Months in Remission Welcome to Remission Station When you were plucked from your life and dumped onto the cancer train all those months ago, you were mad. Your life was ticking along just nicely, thank you very much, and to return to that life you’d have to undertake a gruelling journey to … More Advocacy, Overwhelm and Balancing Worlds
If you’re aged between, say, 16 and 30, and you’re engaged in small talk at a social event, here’s what happens: questions. A lot of questions. Questions like: What GCSEs are you taking?What A-Levels are you taking?What extra-curriculars are you doing?Have you started to learn to drive?Who are you taking to prom?What do you want … More On living in the moment when nobody else is