On Writing

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and focused. Killing cancer is a full-time job, and your favorite cancer-warrior is in the office. 

Specifically, I wanted to spend this rainy L.A. day working on my book, which I've too-often neglected for other, more extroverted activities. Writing -- whether it be for the blog or the book, or even while emailing an update on my status to a friend -- helps me reflect on my days while I'm living them, which is not easy to do (at least for me). But writing for the book specifically helps me focus on the last several months and how my experiences have shaped my mind and body today. It's almost like active meditation -- I'm centering my mind and taking time to reflect but, at the same time, creating something for myself and others. To me, that's the perfect combination. You know I'm not the best at not doing things.

Writing has always been a part of my life. I was an English major/History minor in college at Duke, and the many papers I wrote spanned various, thought-provoking (at least to me) subjects: the heroine Beatrice in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Ernest Hemingway's portrayal of women characters in his novels, violence against migrants at the U.S./Mexico border, the style and language invoked in the closing arguments of Atticus Finch in To Kill and Mockingbird and Johnny Cochran in the O.J. Simpson trial. As a litigator, writing is a daily activity -- from client letters to motions to dismiss to settlement agreements to emails to opposing counsel. 

But no writing has been as satisfying as the stuff I've done for the blog and the book. There is a real pleasure in simply speaking in my own voice, without pretense and with total honesty, about the incredibly personal but somewhat universal issue of living life to the fullest while fighting a deadly disease. I've loved every minute of the writing process -- from thinking about my subject, to forming my idea for how a post or chapter will go, to actually writing the thing. The fact that this writing has inspired and helped others just blows me away. It also keeps me inspired to keep on writing.

I made solid progress on the book this morning, and I plan to spend the rest of my day writing. If you want to find your favorite cancer blogger, I'll be at a local Starbucks, sipping on some chamomile tea, enjoying the London-like weather conditions, and typing away on my laptop.