Mine Hotel Buenos Aires

It is the first morning in Buenos Aries and the 7^th day of our South American travels.  One full day of travel and we arrived in Santiago Chile Monday evening, and didn’t wake till noon Tuesday.  Wednesday, I spoke to 450+ individuals about culture of health and most of Thursday we visited with an MDACC sister hospital about wellness and survivorship.  Friday we rested, packed, and Saturday flew to Buenos Aries.  The waves that have been cresting and soaking me finally subsided last night, and as I sit in the courtyard the stillness of the pool reflects my deep spiritual calmness and anchor of my wellbeing.  Remember your spiritual anchor today as you ride the waves of your journey. 

MD Anderson Survivorship Conference

Survivorship Conference Registration

Almost 8 years ago my wife & I sat across from my urologist & he said, “Mr. Baun there is no easy way to say this, but you have aggressive prostate cancer”.  This was my first day as a cancer survivor; living with, living through, & living beyond cancer.  What I’ve learned is that survivorship is not just about me, but also includes my family, friends, & caregivers.  The MD Anderson Network Cancer Survivorship Conference is Sept 19-20 & offers break sessions about thriving in a cancer journey.  The keynote is Olympic gold medalist & cancer survivor Shannon Miller.  Touched by cancer?  Attend the conference & learn to thrive with the touch of MD Anderson’s caring community.     

Spiritual Presence

The blinking bike light caught my attention, so I slowed down and he crossed the street before I made my turn.  My mom was born in 1914, died of cancer in her early 50s, and never learned how to ride a bike.  But she fished and picked apples at her dad’s farm, and showed me how to ride her sled down the farm hill.  She taught John Glenn English in college, and crossed the Pacific in a huge transport ship holding me as a baby to join my dad in Tachikawa Japan.  I can’t read a Robert Frost poem without hearing her voice and feeling her love for words.  This morning I caught her spirit in a blinking bike light and honor her with my tears as I write these words.  Honor your spiritual life today by recognizing its presence. 

Kindness

The last few weeks have been a blur of work and preparation for my talks next week at the Corporate Well-Being Conference, and Clinica Alemana de Santiago, Chile.  It seems like the more I get done, the more I have to do.   We all have experienced what Mark Nepo refers to as “unexpected surges of kindness”.  Yesterday as my world spun a little too fast several random moments of kindness appeared and together they gradually stopped my spinning.  It’s the random, unrehearsed, acts that reach deep into our impatient souls and remind us of the gentle healing power of kindness.  May kindness be a part of your day.      

Grace Filled Stillness

Yesterday, I met a couple about my age sitting in the waiting room from Alabama; we had a playful conversation about the Bear Bryant and Charlie Mac football years, and then talked about our cancers.  He was facing his 4^th cancer and had come to MD Anderson fighting with hope.  As he described his journey, it was in the stillness between his words that I saw the calmness in his eyes, and in this calmness you could feel the grace empowering his courage and hope.  A nurse called my name, and we both said, “God bless”, at the same time, and I walked into my treatment reveling in a stillness filled with grace.  Live in grace filled stillness today. 

Life Flow

It’s an amazing 3-4 hour “life flow” experience watching my blood being removed through one IV, and then returned through an IV in my other arm.  I’m always a little tired after the procedure, so Friday MaryBeth drove us to the lake house for a relaxing weekend.  All weekend I couldn’t help but think about the flow of our lives, and how hard I’ve worked to maximize the flow of time.  Sunday I stood in a flower bed surrounded by swarms of butterflies and realized that life flow is born from rest time, dream time, spiritual time, and time made sacred by living with the moment, not from managed moments.  Today let life flow.   

Leukapheresis Provenge Treatment II

Been there, done that.  We all know the feelings that surround these words.  My 1st & 2nd Army parachute jumps were so very different.  1^st jump I was #1 jumper standing in the door waiting for the jump masters command.  He said go, and I hesitated thinking, “I could die doing this”, and then his boot hit my rear end and I was out the door.  The same day I jumped a jet.  I was the 5^th jumper and remember getting sucked out the door – no time to really think, the jump was pure reflex.  I’ve been reading Embrace Release Heal by Leigh Fortson and her words have moved me to be more open to my inner wisdom.  Visualization of my supercharged immune system attacking my cancer cells has become a daily practice, an intuitive reflex.  Today starts my 2^nd round of supercharging my immune system; embrace your inner wisdom today.