Today's guest is truly a joy rebel, claiming her own unique brand of joy. I am thrilled to share a kind warrior spirit with you today. Please read on!
1. Hi Sherry! Tell us a little about yourself. The profile on my blog reads: “I am more than simply the sum of all of my parts...I am an explorer, journey woman, soul seeker, breast cancer survivor, an artist, a writer, a reader, a little bit quirky and a little bit silly, often day dreaming, I philosophically discuss life with laughter and a degree of humility ~ discovering the possibilities in life one moment, one day at a time. I am a Warrior Woman Extra-Ordinaire as determined by my sweet soul friend The Queen of Arts alias The Rock Fairy”. I will add that I have recently discovered I am a documentarian which I am discovering through various forms of art, including photography.
I'm a Canadian girl, born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. I am a married mother of two young men (one 21 the other nearly 19) who has spent a great deal of time educating and teaching her children about life by example and experience as well as morals and values. I have done a great deal of volunteer work both through their school and their sporting life. I am a firm believer that children learn what they live.
I write almost daily at my blog
everyday possibilities and I sell my paper arts at on etsy at
Bella Rennie.
2. Your blog is everyday possibilities. Can you tell us a little bit about what that means to you and why that's important to you? When I first started blogging in August 2007, I really had no idea what direction my blog would take. At one time I had 5 blogs each for a different facet of my personality and my life which I likened to different rooms in a house. One was for everyday thoughts, one for my art, one for my writing, one for breast cancer and one for inspiration. It was only earlier this year that I felt I had found my voice and knew where I wanted to go with my writing and my art. I let the others go (I still have the breast cancer blog for reference and information) and created “everyday possibilities”. My philosophy of life is that every day holds possibility, every experience holds possibility and in fact, everything we do in life is a possibility. We only need to believe it to see it.
With each day being a gift I have made myself a promise that I will search out experiences and even if something hasn’t quite worked out the way I would like, I dig deep to find what possibility the experience holds for me. There is always something. Discovering “what” is a gift of joy.
3. Do you mind sharing some of your cancer story and how that has impacted you? Brandi, I am always happy to talk about my breast cancer experience. Sharing what happened in my life, how it affected me, what I learned from it is part of the journey. I call it the “giving back” and have often said that in doing so I am standing ahead on the path, with a flashlight held behind me so that others who are walking on the path can see where they are going and hopefully won’t trip over the obstacles on the path.
I had the mammogram that changed my life on May 4, 2005. I knew when the doctor called to ask for more pictures that there was a problem and I knew in my soul that I had breast cancer. I didn’t need to wait for the official word. Our bodies have a unique way of communicating with us and if we listen, we can hear what is being said. I’ve always believed that it is important to listen to the voice inside and to not dismiss the signs and signals. I was conscientious about breast self exams and mammograms and it was the mammogram that showed the tumor. I was in my 40s and I have learned over the last few years that women are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. Breast cancer is becoming an increasingly prevalent disease, partly because of earlier detection and awareness; partly due to the environment. I firmly believe that.
There are various schools of thought as to when you begin counting good health towards the number of years you are cancer free (note you are never cured but you can be called "clean"). My personal philosophy and one my surgeon agreed with is that I count my life having started again – my second chance at life – the day of the mammogram. A rebirth so to speak. So I am now 4 years old and counting. Given that my hair fell out because of chemotherapy (all of my hair – everywhere!) and all of the life lessons I learned, I really do feel like I’m being given my childhood again and this time I have the knowledge and wisdom I didn’t have the first time. And how nice…I don’t remember myself bald and with little hair as a baby. This time I got to watch the whole growth process!
4. I would love for you to share about the zine you have created in support of the cancer community! I have always been a supporter of breast cancer awareness, even before I became initiated into “the club”. I felt it was important to lend my support to a disease that affects women (more than men, though it is important to remember that men also develop breast cancer) and with the statistics that 1 in 9 women will develop the disease in her lifetime it seemed doubly important. I always felt that I would be that 1 in 9.
Since my own breast cancer experience I have taken my many years of fundraising experience and come up with a different way each year to make my contribution. I’ve done the walks; I’ve held yard sales for the cure and sold merchandise that I have made. This year I wanted to spread my wings to use my art and my writing and create a zine. The zine itself is not about breast cancer particularly though there are some references to that from a few of the contributors. I wanted this zine to be about hope and inspiration, two very important aspects of coping with and rising above not just breast cancer, but any other adverse experiences in life. Asking others to contribute art and stories to the zine enabled me to share with others how individuals find ways to surmount their difficulties and become the Super Heroes they were always meant to be. If you believe you are strong, have faith and the power to rise above, then you will have already completed half the battle.
(ed: I am grateful to be one of the contributors to this wonderful project. You can buy your copy here) 5. If you had one lesson to impart with our readers, what would it be? Each day is a gift. This one. This moment, this hour, this day. Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Yesterday has been and gone. You cannot change anything that happened in that day but the one you awaken to holds the possibility of good things. It is a clean slate to find the joy in the day, make a difference, be a blessing and it offers the opportunity to “get it right”. We never know what tomorrow will hold. Thinking too far ahead robs you of the wonders of the day you are in. Savor it. Cherish it. Create it. Live it. No regrets. Tell yourself every day how much you love yourself, how much you like yourself, how valuable you are. When you know that and believe that, others do as well. Love others, lend a helping hand. Smile at someone just because it feels good. Wonder of wonders…they will smile back.
6. What does joy mean to you and how do you stay connected with it? Joy is part of my spirit and my soul. Joy is different from happiness. Being happy lasts such a short time and doesn’t happen every day. Happiness is like riding a roller coaster. You feel the thrill when you go up and the drop when you come down. Joy is being able to go to the fair and get on that roller coaster, knowing that you can buy another ticket and ride it again and again and again.
Joy is never fleeting. It doesn’t come and go. I stay connected to joy by being mindful and aware. I pay attention to my surroundings…the scenery, the people, the mood. I listen for music, not just instrumental…birdsong, the bark of a dog, laughter of small children. I see it in color and texture within art and nature. I feel it in my connection to others…a conversation where I not only listen but I hear. It is felt when I share laughter with someone. When I can finish someone else’s sentence because I know the person so well and they can finish my sentence for me. There is a joy in the connectedness. I feel joy in a compliment I give or receive. My faith and my spirit are the key ingredients to joy and I make a point of giving thanks every morning for the joy I will find in the day.
7. Anything coming up that you'd like to share with us? I have nothing specific coming in the very near future though I am taking some on line courses about art journaling, painting and photography which I am enjoying, and with the publication of my first zine I am looking forward to additional writing and publishing endeavors. Now that I have stuck my toe in the waters as they say, I am encouraged by the feedback and the joy I felt in creating the zine to, as one friend said to me, “breathe more of myself into the world”.
Thank you, Sherry*Lee, for sharing with us!
