Lately I’ve been finding it harder to appreciate the beauty around me, this is understandable given that I’m a cancer survivor living through a devastating global pandemic. All of us are exhausted and demoralized as we begin the third year of an ongoing international health crisis. Even in these dark times, there are several ways to forge a deeper bond with the beauty that is in this world and I’ll discuss the most important ones here. 

Experience Beauty Through Art

There’s an emerging group of professionals who employ the arts to help people heal. The new field is called creative arts therapies, and it encompasses a wide range of modes of expression including art, dance/movement, drama, music and poetry. When cancer patients undertake these activities, whether individually or with the guidance of a creative art therapist, they stand to benefit psychologically and emotionally. Recently there’s been a trend toward simple or old-fashioned crafts and hobbies such as knitting. I’ve even used adult colouring books to relax and reduce daily stress. This concept started about a decade ago with the publication of Johanna Basford’s Secret Garden. 

More recently, I decided to take my colouring hobby a step further and enrolled in an art class offered through Wellspring Calgary. I acknowledge that some of my inspiration came from Nadia Chaudhri who created some lovely works of art from her palliative care bed. The Introduction to Watercolour course that I participated in had to be conducted online via Zoom, but I did my best as professional artist, Karin Huehold, taught about 20 online students some basic techniques. 

Experience Beauty Through Nature

I live in Canada and during the extremely long, cold winters I’m obliged to spend the majority of my time indoors, for me January and February are discouraging—sometimes almost brutal. It’s generally agreed that exposure to nature is extremely beneficial for people with cancer or other chronic illnesses, improving mood and easing anxiety, stress, and depression. Current research findings suggest that natural settings such as parks, wilderness areas, urban green spaces and gardens have the potential to improve both physical and mental health. Numerous health scholars claim that ecotherapy can promote wellness and healing. The practice is also known as green therapy, nature therapy, and earth-centered therapy.

About a decade ago, soon after I was diagnosed with cancer, I discovered a meditation technique called mindfulness. Being outdoors often helps me be mindful, I’m able to relax and to more fully appreciate the unique moment that I’m living in. Jon Kabat-Zinn pioneered using this method with cancer patients and other groups battling chronic pain or illness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn describes mindfulness as follows:

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. This kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of the present-moment reality. It wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments If we are not fully present for many of those moments, we may not only miss what is most valuable in our lives but also fail to realize the richness and the depth of our possibilities for growth and transformation.”

Find Beauty and Strength Within

When you are diagnosed with cancer, you’ll almost certainly have moments when you sense that your world is spinning violently out of control. The fundamental paradox for me is that I’m often in situations where I feel a sense of power, combined with courage and self-assurance. It’s as if I’m standing in life’s Category 5 hurricane and remaining resolute, steadfast and unbroken. I don’t aspire to become a legend like Terry Fox or to be anything resembling a saint or a cancer hero. But still, I’ve discovered inner qualities and personal strengths I never appreciated or properly acknowledged in myself. Subjected to the ultimate test, I’ve sometimes shocked myself with my capacity to overcome adversity and to confront physical pain and suffering.

Sometimes I wish that a magical force or mystic healer could transport me back to before I had cancer, but then I think that I’ve come too far and acquired too much. In the decade since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve realized how fortunate I am. I’ve been reminded that often, in our worst challenges come valuable lessons. Through facing the terrible realities of my disease, I’ve learned to be more conscious of living in the moment. I’ve learned it’s all right to pause in our hyper-accelerated culture, I’m allowed to take a break when I’m feeling worn-out. My new normal has also taught me I don’t need material things to make me happy and that family and friends are to be treasured. But perhaps the most valuable lesson I’ve acquired so far during my cancer journey is that life is all too fleeting.