Late in the afternoon on the day I was diagnosed with cancer, I sat at my computer and composed a message that I sent to a small circle of friends, telling them about this new turn of events in my life. I didn’t know it at the time, but that one message would soon grow into a series of messages—healing updates—that I would send out every ten days or so.  I am at heart a storyteller, and it was through the telling that I was able to make some sense of it all. In this story of my journey to find a source of resilience in the face of a life-threatening illness, I turned to what I know—myths and lines of poetry, songs and jokes and dreams, and words of wisdom that I found along the way. In all, I sent out twenty-three updates over eight months, until shortly after the post-treatment scans showed the radiation had been successful and I was in complete remission.

 

This relatively brief span of time was, without exception, the most profound period of learning that I have ever experienced in my life. Many of my friends told me that they found my writing personally valuable and they encouraged me to find some opportunity to share it with others. That’s what I have done with this book. It is simply a compilation of my healing updates as I wrote and sent them, plus some sidebars with a few extra notes from my journal and descriptions of dreams I had during those months. I am offering it in the spirit of reciprocity for all the gifts I received.

 

You are welcome to download it, read it, and forward the link to share with anyone else who you think may find it useful. I have no expectations, but if you feel you'd like to give me a gift of some money in exchange for the writing, you can send me any amount that seems right to you.

 

—with buckets of gratitude,

 

Will Weigler