Alone

I have never had a problem being on my own. I enjoy solitary activities, solitary activities are healing and restorative for me, like a good, long soak in the bathtub or the commute to and from work. I prefer company, given the option, I would enjoy a good, long soak in a hot tub with others and have always preferred carpooling to driving solo. These activities are energizing and grounding for me. I value both my alone time and my time with others.

Every now and then I will be in a very crowded place and feel very alone. This is best exemplified in my life as Christmas shopping in the mall, any mall. Completely crowded and chaotic, noisy and claustrophobic, hectic and pandemonium. I do not enjoy it, in an earlier post I mentioned that Amazon enabled my inner stalker—Amazon also enables my seasonal agoraphobic tendencies. I feel alone in a very uncomfortable way in a mall during Christmas shopping season.

Cancer has a way of making a person feel alone, isolated, sorted out of society. I hate that feeling. The worst part of that feeling is having it around people who care for you, who love you, who are concerned for you. How do you tell any of those people you feel utterly alone?

I don’t want anyone to feel alone, isolated or sorted out of society, especially when they are in the fight of and for their lives. So much is coming at you hard and fast with a cancer diagnosis, so many decisions, so many issues, so much information, so much work and a feeling of being utterly alone does not help matters.

When my family came to the decision to make Survivor Sherpa to help people and families deal with cancer in their lives the line “no one journeys alone’ has so much to it. I wasn’t alone, my family and friends were with me. I wasn’t alone, many,many people have been there before me. I wasn’t alone, the medical team is capable and awesome. Yet feeling alone persisted, cancer stole both my comfort of being alone and of being with others. I hate that feeling and want to help others not to feel that way.

No one journeys alone is meant to help remind people that they are not alone, there is help. They are not alone, there is information. They are not alone, people have been there before them and are here to listen, help and do what needs to be done. They are not alone, people have dealt with medical teams to form healing partnerships and will help you do it, too.

I could prevent a good amount of fear with research and educating myself. I haven’t figured out how to prevent the truly uncomfortable, utterly alone feeling. I have figured out how to combat it though, by reaching out to others, offering a hand, listening to and learning about their journey. It all heals me from that feeling and I hope that it does the same for them.

Donate today to help make this a reality for women and families sooner rather than later, everyone could use a Sherpa during a difficult journey and they really don’t have to journey alone. https://www.supportful.com/survivorsherpa