An unusual prescription for a greater kind of pain.
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 1/25/26
This week’s issue explores an unexpected but deeply human response to collective pain: giving. Especially when the world feels overwhelming — and when personal hardship like cancer already stretches our capacity — it can be hard to know how to show up without burning out or shutting down.
This week’s issue touches on:
✨ How personal and collective crises can coexist — and compound one another
✨ Why small, meaningful acts of care still matter, even when they feel insignificant
✨ A simple but powerful “prescription” that has helped me move from helplessness to hope — again and again
Read the full email below - and if something speaks to you please feel free to comment, share, or reach out!
Hi, Dear One.
I'm struggling today. A lot of us are.
There is so much I want to say and yet I feel like I have no words, or at least not the right ones.
In business, we're often told to avoid things that could be polarizing — especially anything “political” — because you don't want to risk alienating the very folks you are hoping to serve if they hold different opinions or beliefs than you.
And more realistically, I know that me spouting off about recent events is not why you invite me into your inbox each week.
You follow me because, most likely, you and I have the shared experience of a breast cancer diagnosis, and I have additional knowledge and skills that can benefit you in living in the aftermath.
But nothing happens in a vacuum.
A cancer diagnosis can happen during a global pandemic, leaving you alone during long chemo infusions or delayed surgeries — along side the fear of an uncontrolled virus and how it might take from you in multiple ways.
Cancer treatments can create unexpected and terrible side effects that go beyond the physical illness they create, by expanding to the relationships we thought were solid, until our illness alienates those we love and cherish — because of their baggage, not our own.
The upheaval of a changed body, of new perspective, of being forced to confront your own mortality, can weigh you down like an anchor around your feet — while your family, your friends, your job, all ask you to be “good" now so that life can go on — so you keep swimming to keep your head above water no matter how exhausted you are.
And all of this is regardless of what's happening in your neighborhoods, your communities, your cities, your country, and around the world.
I think that what has been troubling me for a long time now is not just about the politics of our country — it's about basic humanity and the way we take care of others as we try to take care of ourselves.
And that is something I feel belongs in this space. At least in this moment.
One of the things I've realized in my life and career is that my superpowers are not just about what's in my head, or what my hands can do — it's also about what's in my heart.
I often say that my greatest talent is holding space for others.
And I believe that the greatest gift we can give to anyone is to see their innate worth based on the simple fact that we are all human.
Lately it feels like we are losing this ability — to see each other as kindred by nature instead of divided by belief.
I'm guilty of this too.
I have thoughts and feelings that I don't recognize in myself towards people and institutions in our country — and whether those thoughts and feelings seem justified to me, I still don't like that they're there.
I'm angry. I'm scared. I'm sad. I'm in pain. And I think I'm right to be.
But mostly I feel helpless.
Helpless to make a real difference to the injustices going on both around the world and here at home.
I'm grateful for those who speak up online, and I'm also overwhelmed by the sensory overload I have to take in to feel informed.
I appreciate those who are on the front lines of danger and violence so that we can know what is happening, and I feel inadequate in how I am able to show up myself.
I'll be honest with you — I don't yet have the answers to these conundrums.
I try to make it very clear who I am, what I believe, and where I stand, but I also don't post on social media a lot because I just don't love it, so posting now in the wake of political violence and upheaval would simply feel performative.
I give where I can — my money, my time, my energy — but it's a balance between getting involved in the bigger picture without losing sight of the ways I'm already equipped to serve, like showing up for you.
So that's what I'm going to continue doing.
I'm going to keep talking about how to take care of yourself in relevant and practical ways as they relate to life after a breast cancer diagnosis.
But please know that this doesn't mean I am blind to what's happening or ignoring our neighbors in need. In fact I believe the more we can do for others in our own communities the more we can create change in the world at large.
Which is why today, I'm going to give you a gift that I hope you will consider and pass on.
Many many years ago I stumbled upon a book called “29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life” by Cami Walker.
And it lives up to its name — it truly changed my life.
I have read this book over and over again.
I have gifted this book over and over again.
And when I feel humbled by my own smallness in a large and overwhelming world, I come back to it over and over again.
And this is where I find myself now.
I am in the middle of a reread and I decided to “gift” this book to all of you.
Unfortunately I can't actually give each of you your own copy but I can bring it to your attention and let you decide if it's worth finding and reading.
From the description:
"At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by an intensified struggle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease that left her debilitated and depressed. Then she received an uncommon "prescription" from South African healer Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.
29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author's life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving. Many of Walker's gifts were simple--a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker's health and happiness improved, but she had also created a worldwide giving movement. 29 Gifts shows how a simple, daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world."
This may sound like a lot of “woo" — or a lot of work — but truthfully having done this challenge more than once in my life, and having led others in this challenge, I can tell you that the ripple effect is remarkable.
The gift you give might be the one that lifts another person up to accomplish something remarkable, or stand up in the ways you simply may not be able.
Realizing how much power you hold to improve the lives of others near and far — as well as your own — even with the simplest of acts, can shift you feel from feeling helpless to hopeful.
When you change the way you see the gifts you have to give — and what a gift can be at all — you begin to open yourself up to giving in more ways.
And this is the start of powerful and progressive change for us all.
So I will leave you with a couple of links to explore this book — or maybe start with your local book store or library! — and I hope if you decide to read it, or try the “prescription” as it's described, that you will let me know how it's going.
Explore #29 Gifts" on Bookshop
Until then thank you for being in community with me.
I have no doubt that there are those of you who see things differently than I do, and I also doubt we are going to easily change each other minds.
But I do believe we can change the world with love and kindness and those aren't debatable.
Until next week, please stay hydrated, nourished, and rested, so that you can keep on fighting for yourself and others.
And remember, I'm always in this with you.
P.S. If you don't already know where I stand on politics, religion, etc… but would like to, you are welcome to send me an email. I will gladly tell you my thoughts and feelings on these subjects without attacking you for yours. I won't engage in arguments but I will be honest and proud about who I am and what I support when it's a true conversation in a safe space.
P.P.S. If you enjoy these weekly emails, please consider sharing the sign up link with someone you know. It's the best form of support I could ask for!