Packing for Ireland. I’ve done this so many times my clothes almost fold and tuck themselves into my suitcase. Preparations for this journey are very familiar as is often the way with journeys we choose and plan for. Not so with those that land rather suddenly and unexpectedly in the midst of our lives.

We’ve all heard that a journey begins with the first step. But before that step the journey begins with and is shaped by where we stand – the culmination of our life, experiences, and conditioning. This is what we have packed in our lives. This is the preparation. Affirming where I stand was my first step on this journey with cancer. Being rooted deeply on a spiritual path with profound connection to Ireland’s indigenous spiritual ancestors and their wisdom of being in right relationship with the sacred, with community, and with the Earth would be my strength and guide my way forward. These deep roots would be more important than I could have anticipated.

The journey of cancer arrived like a storm. Dark clouds gathered and the strong winds of contemporary treatment would attempt to blow me along a path of protocols that are considered standard but which for me are abhorrent. Claiming my voice and my choice, standing strong against the storm was and is only possible with deep roots.

It is from this place of rootedness that I will share insights from my journey.