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In this video, join Julie in the forested wetland of our homestead for a cancer update and a conversation about how the metaphor of a quest through the dark enchanted forest might help us all.

Below is the transcript for this video if you prefer to read rather than watch it.

Hey there friends and neighbors. Julie here coming to you from my homestead in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. And we are in the forest and wetland portion which we haven't visited in a video for quite a long time.

It's been quite a while since I have checked in with you here and given you an update. I finally have the life course after the last couple of months to be able to do that today and I'm so delighted to be with you. In this video, I'm going to give you an update about how things have been going over the last couple of months and share with you the one key thing that has really gotten me through, and that you might be able to apply to your homestead or your life in general.

If you are interested in exploring homesteading, but you're not sure where to begin, I would encourage you to check out our website where you can download our free quickstart guide to homesteading which is full of tips that you can easily implement wherever you find yourself.

So at the time of this recording, it's been just a little over two months since I had surgery to remove the cancerous tumors on the left side of my chest, which were a recurrence of the breast cancer I had in 2015. The surgery went well, although the recovery period was longer than I would have hoped. And I'm currently undergoing radiation treatments. There have been a lot of ups and downs in those last couple of months and I won't bore you with every single nitty-gritty detail.

The thing that I'm really present with is comparing where I am now in this cancer diagnosis with where I was in my first diagnosis. At this point, when I was going through cancer the first time I was not okay. I was really struggling with mental health with post-traumatic stress and things that made me feel like secretly I was going crazy. It wasn't until many years later, I learned that this is actually a really normal trauma response especially for young survivors and now things are different. Part of the reason that things are different is because of what happened between my two diagnoses.

That is about what I did on the inside, the inner work that I did. That breakdown that I had after my first cancer experience ended up really being a breaking open, a way of healing a lot of trauma from my life and life experiences including cancer. The key learning was that we don't always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose how we respond. We also get to choose the meaning that we make from our life experiences. This learning has led to so many good things, not the least of which is this moment of me sitting here with you on our own homestead.

So while my second cancer diagnosis was a complete shock, even to my oncologist, I felt a little bit more prepared the second time around. But there was one thing from my first cancer experience that never quite sat right with me. And that came up again really early on in my second diagnosis. It’s the metaphor dilemma. When it comes to cancer, and breast cancer in particular, people love boxing metaphors. And it just never felt like the right one for me.

Something that I've been using that's really been helping me is the idea of this journey with cancer being an epic quest through a dark Enchanted Forest. And on this quest, I am discovering that there are monsters to slay, and also even befriend. There are puzzles to solve and treasures to find. I have trusted companions and wonderful healing guides that are joining me for different parts of this journey. I'm certain that I will come out the other side transformed, probably in ways I can't even imagine right now. My hope is that I will have gifts to share with you.

As I've started to use this metaphor and lean on it, navigating difficult situations on my cancer journey, I've also started to realize that everybody I know is on some kind of epic quest through their own version of the dark Enchanted Forest. Maybe you are too. Maybe you're dealing with a difficult work situation, or challenging family dynamics or your own health crisis or that of a loved one. Maybe you're trying to change habits like exercise and eating healthier and it's a struggle. Maybe you just don't feel like you belong.

What I know to be true is that whoever you are, however, lost and lonely you feel right now, I've been there and others have been there too. You are worthy of the journey. The world needs your unique gifts expressed in a way that only you can share. So I hope that you will accept the challenge, that you will undertake your quest through the dark Enchanted Forest.

You don't need me to list all of the ways that the world is going through a dark time. I think we can all feel it right now. The world needs all of us now more than ever to gather our light to shed that light into the darkness.

I'm clear that one of the things that I have to share (or a mission I've given myself to share with the world) is to help people realize that sustainable nature-connected living can be simple whether you live in the city country or somewhere in between.

But I'm still not out of the woods yet with my cancer-healing journey. But please know that I will return fully when I'm healed. And I will be here rooting for you every step of the way on your own journey.

If any of this resonated with you, I would love to know. You can let me know by liking this video or sharing it or leaving a comment below.

And remember, there is no one right way to homestead only the way that's right for you. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.