Thoughts About Commonweal

The Commonweal Cancer Help Program has meant a lot to me, and it’s hard to know where to start.

I found myself referring to it as “The Mothership” because it felt like the safest and most nurturing space I have encountered in helping me with my cancer experience. It provided a rich array of important experiences and information – amazing lectures, supportive process groups, educational nutrition information, and balanced perspectives on Eastern and Western medicine. It was a kind of enrichment that is rare in this world – and felt like a refreshing drink in a desert.

I ended up going through the program twice and I so appreciate both of those experiences. It’s hard to keep up with changes in the cancer world alongside the psychological difficulties in keeping up with oneself. The Commonweal Cancer Help Program integrates thoughts about the outer treatment-oriented world, and the inner psychological world – combining up-to-date, well thought-out, and artfully presented information and experiences concerning Eastern and Western thinking.

Not only was I able to experience a complementary array of services, but Commonweal assisted in renewing my creativity during those stressful times. In a sense, I had let go of doing some work that I thought was important because the cancer and cancer treatment seemed to be all-encompassing. However, through the magic of the Cancer Help Program, I got further inspiration to do some writing and work that had been and continues to be very important to me.