show episodes
 
A Breast Cancer Diary is a deeply personal podcast where women tell the stories of breakthroughs, connections and paths to overcoming the challenges of Breast Cancer. It's for women who are facing decisions in the near future, as well as those who remain in this world years after diagnosis. It explores themes of body positivity, reframing of family, relationships, lifestyle, work, and it also explores recurrence, metastasis and the sacrifices that we don't normally talk about.
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This is a very short recap of stirred thoughts and feelings after talking to Miriam last week about her amazing self advocacy as a young breast cancer survivor with complicated hormonal needs. Support my work by making a donation here: https://liberapay.com/abreastcancerdiary/ Links: The Facebook group for Flatties that I mentioned is here: https:/…
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In the uncertainties of our times, our mistrust — of the future, of ourselves and one another — might be justified. But we are called, as people of faith in a liberating love, to cultivate greater trust. Let’s explore how to become more trusting and more trustworthy in the face of change. Rev. Karen Hering…
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My dear friend Miriam has a lot to say in this interview about work and breast cancer. She also makes a really good argument for getting a second opinion. Thank you for rating and reviewing the podcast! You can now watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/agbu6QjDiXs Support my work by making a donation here: https://liberapay.com/abreastcancerdiary/…
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The life of the spirit is all about triage: attending to this thing and then that thing, each in its time, with care. But the planet spins beneath our feet, sometimes careening wildly, and our days are disjointed and dizzying. When the known world flies apart, what holds you in place? Join us for pancake brunch after the service.…
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There are some terms to define from the last episode, but mainly I want to talk more about the idea of self blame and "I must have done something wrong" raised by Avena last week. This is a topic worth discussion. Support the podcast here: https://liberapay.com/abreastcancerdiary/ Watch the podcast on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/agbu6QjDiXs Tran…
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There were some audio issues with this recording. The audio gets better at the 30 seconds mark. We are all familiar with the story of Henry David Thoreau and his two-year experiment on a plot of land owned by his teacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. We are less familiar with the story of Harriet Jacobs, Thoreau’s contemporary, who also, alone, entered a s…
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My friend Avena had never told me her breast cancer story before this interview, so I'm hearing it fresh right along with you, and of course, her insights blew me away. Transcript: K: Today's guest is my friend, Avena Ward. She has been in my life just a short time, and she's been a writing partner to me, mostly online. We met each other through a …
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This week I've decided to define some terms that came up in my interview with April Stearns last Sunday, for the sake of those new to breast cancer culture. Hope this is useful to you! Transcript: Welcome back. Today, I'm going to be doing another one of my reflection episodes. This is going to be purely a reflection on the last episode. So if you …
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This service begins with a reflection by Sara Ford followed by Kevin Ward and Jess Goff. What happens when a book changes your life? You buy copies for your friends? Or maybe you talk about it in a summer service. In 2016, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote The Book of Joy. Some of their ideas are weird and unattainable (like — Can yo…
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The work that April does at Wildfire Magazine has been one of my biggest comforts in breast cancer recovery, because the stories told by her writers provide comfort and solidarity. I see April as an activist on many levels but mostly for the themes that she chooses for her magazine. Themes like "Body: A Changing Landscape" and "Fertility" and "Iden…
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This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Chris Russert. In a consumer society focused on limited resources and rugged individualism, many are left feeling estranged from one another and numb. How might we move from a culture of scarcity towards abundance, understanding the power of sharing, and embracing our human vulnerabi…
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This is a follow up podcast episode to last week's in which I spoke to my friend Marquita Bass about her triple negative breast cancer diagnosis. I felt there was a little more to say on this subject before moving on. Links: In the podcast, I promised to provide resources in the show notes for learning more about personalized medicine in breast can…
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What does it mean to have a conversation or an encounter with another human that invites the divine into relationship? When we talk about “going deep quickly” and knowing each other “in all our fullness,” what do we mean? Why are these things important? And what do Herr Buber and Mr. Douglass have to teach us about all this?…
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This episode gets into some murky medical territory so it's important to note that your doctor is the only expert on whether chemo is for you. Personalized cancer treatment is still being tested in clinical trials at this time, but Marquita is one example among triple negative (TNBC) early stage breast cancer patients who might have taken chemo and…
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Today I'm reflecting on how far I've come since my first mastectomy--the one in which I was denied flatness. Thanks for listening as I process my own anger and regret and allow them to officially become softer. Transcript: Welcome back. Today in episode three of the podcast, I just want to reflect a little bit on some of the themes that came out in…
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Whether you're flat or reconstructed, if you've had a mastectomy you have scars on your chest, and the natural tendency for most of us is to hide them. What happens when we encounter someone who isn't as interested in hiding? For me, it's been magic each time a person shows a lack of shame to those around her, and that's all Michaela is doing with …
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This sermon podcast begins with a reflection by worship associate Caswell Burr. There is a great, interconnected web of existence, a great and entrancing mystery, and we are starting to see more of the effects of our neglect for that interdependence. How can our UU faith and principles help guide us through the growing imperative to change our rela…
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Thanks for checking out my new podcast! This episode is a super short intro to my story just in case you haven't heard it before. Thanks for listening! -Kathleen Episode One Transcript: [00:00:00] June 26, 2024. Dear diary, Wait.... Are you my diary? My name is Kathleen Moss. Welcome to my podcast. You may know me from my YouTube channels, "Etrogen…
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Fatherhood has changed a lot since the first celebration of Father’s Day in 1910, as have ideas about masculinity. Worship associates Charlie Caswell, Chris Russert, and Isaac Fried will reflect on their own experiences of fathers, and the joys and the challenges of navigating maleness amidst a culture that insists on binary thinking. ​…
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We are well aware of the realties of climate change; we see evidence of the changing earth on an almost daily basis. Yet climate fatigue — the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is also evident. How do we cultivate a sustainable level of energy and care for the environment when our own resources are often thin? How is that climate of care pra…
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Beethoven was completely deaf when he embarked on his masterpiece, Ode to Joy, and it’s a tragedy that he never heard a single note of it except inside his head. At many times in our lives, finding joy may seem impossible. Life can seem painful or tragic, and joy completely out of reach. Not ignoring the truths of the tragedies and challenges of ou…
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Ukraine. Israel and Palestine. Haiti. Eritrea. Ethiopia. There are so many places around the globe where violence and the war that follows results in an endless cycle of retaliation and devastation. On this Memorial Day Sunday, we honor those who have died in past wars, while maintaining the hope that we can learn the things that make for peace.…
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This sermon podcast begins with a reflection from worship associate Sara Ford. On this Mother’s Day, amidst rising conflicts near and far, let us lean into inspiring stories from our global Unitarian community and ancestors, including Dr. Lotta Hitchmanova, a Jewish journalist from Prague who spoke out against the Nazis and then dedicated her life …
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There is a voice within you which no-one, not even you, has ever heard. Give yourself the opportunity of silence and begin to develop your listening in order to hear, deep within yourself, the music of your own spirit. — John O’Donohue, Anam Cara In a world full of distractions, screens, video bingeing, and climate unraveling, paying deep attention…
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This podcast begins with Merrill Aldrich reading Luke 24:13-32. What really happened on that Easter morning? A resurrection? An awakening? No one can say for certain, but we can say this — Jesus of Nazareth’s life after his death changed the world. On this Easter Sunday, it also has the power to change us. Come find out how.…
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In his essay of the same title, the Hungarian cultural critic László Földényi stages an encounter between Dostoyevsky and Hegel, between our creaturely sense of transcendence as finite-limited-mortal beings and radical Enligthenment's belief in unbounded progress and mastery. In a world mediated through switches, buttons, credit cards, screens, red…
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Many Unitarian Universalists find a spiritual connection with Nature (yes, the N is writ large intentionally!). Having just experienced the warmest winter on record and rising concerns about our planet’s climate, what is our spiritual and theological response? Where can we find the individual and collective strength to clearly face the truth of the…
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"We respond to the call of love because it is our common theological core. It is what can and does motivate us and illuminates our deepest commitments to each other.” These words are from the UUA Board in their Charge to the Article II Study Commission. This Sunday we will consider how our Unitarian Universalist faith and values are expressed in ou…
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Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner made famous the phrase “If it’s not one thing, it’s another...it’s always something!” And isn’t that true? We are constantly called to choose one person or one thing over another; often accompanied by conflicting feelings about those choices. This Sunday we’ll dive deeper into the February theme of choosing…
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Anyone who has endured messy and bitter conflicts in a congregation may not be able to see how there could be an opportunity of a blessing in the midst of the pain. But conflicts will inevitably occur and it is possible to learn new ways of approaching them that can allow for growth and learning, and even transformation. Rev. Cooley is a lifelong U…
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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, and Bayard Rustin’s commitment to non-violence was a powerful and effective strategy because all those involved in the Civil Rights Movement were committed to practicing the disciplines of non-violence as expressed in Beloved Community in action. What wisdom can we learn from King and Rustin as we move towards ev…
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What purpose does religion serve now? What purpose can it serve? With membership declining and ministerial shortages in every denomination, what will the future of religion and Unitarian Universalism be? What could it be? We’ll explore these questions, and how we might learn from our past, those around us, and the moment we’re in to consider a cour…
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Because we’re human, we hurt each other, we get hurt, and there’s a way through that, but that way through depends on the ability to deliver and accept a powerfully meaningful apology. Healing and repair of broken relationships doesn’t happen on its own. This sermon podcast begins with a reflection written by Sara Ford and read by Peggy Lin.…
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Reparations for systemic racism and attempted genocide is now part of our national conversation, yet confession, without making attempts to redress harm, is nothing more than virtue signaling. We’ll explore the complex question of reparations through the lens of those most harmed, with a particular focus on indigenous justice.…
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