In 2003, Kris Carr, a young woman from New York, was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer. Have you heard of her? She is the subject of the TLC documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer (which I have yet to see, but want to see), and is the author of Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips.What I find so compelling about Kris' story is that even with cancer, she feels she is living the most amazing, juicy, healthy life. And she poses such an important question: "Why, when we are challenged to survive, do we give ourselves permission to truly live?" When I visited her website and read that question, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Why, when we are confronted with illness (or our own mortality), do we then start thinking about making healthy and positive changes in our lives?
Kris truly believes that cancer has given her a gift of a new life. She feels like she is more healthy with cancer than she was before cancer due to many changes she has made in her diet and lifestyle. And she feels more passionate about life and more emotionally well than she has ever been.
What can you do now, with or without illness, to make your experience of your life more meaningful, pleasurable, and, well, sexy? Do you have dreams that have been dormant that could now see the light of day? Are there changes you want to make related to your physical health that you've been putting off for another day, or month, or year? We hear the phrase, "live each moment like it were your last" and yet how many of us actually do this? Kris is an example of a woman who embodies that phrase with balance, courage, and gusto.
To visit Kris' lively and informative blog, click here.
2 comments:
Courtney, is that LEAP artwork yours? It is just amazing, there's movement and peace in it, life and love. That's all so cliche, but just wow. It's so beautiful.
Thanks for the prompt to think on about why illness or mortality makes us finally start to live. I know with us, we always thought there'd be more time. We took it for granted. We indulged in the fantasy of time rather than face the scary reality of mortality.
But when our son died, it was like mortality landing in my arms instead of a baby. There was nothing to do but face it. And once I figured out how to drop the old stories about "there's always time" or "make enough money first" or "some weekend soon", well, then all there is, is NOW.
The amazing thing is that when I stop and truly look at my life, I'm living all the things I dreamed. I used to stand down on 1st and Pike and wish I could live on an island. Now we do. :) I make art pretty much everyday. I had always dreamed of being a "real" artist. Well, this is pretty real. :)
Anyway, for whatever all that babble is worth... thank you for your posts -- you always makes me think, celebrate, honor... i appreciate that alot!
Miracles,
k-
K ~
Thank you so much for sharing your experience of loss and of living in the now. Loss does force us to face the now (the reality), doesn't it.
How beautiful that you see your life manifesting before your eyes in ways you have always dreamed of. You are doing it -- and doing it with grace, power, and compassion I might add.
And yes, that "Leap" piece is my creation. I'm glad you resonate with it!
peace and light,
Courtney
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