It's a good news week!
7.
Dear Writers, Readers and Creative Friends,
Following is a long overdue letter to Leftie Bestie (LB), the breast I lost in my unilateral mastectomy on March 6, 2024. Rightie Tightie (RT) is the remaining (smaller) breast. Instead of following up with chemo and radiotherapy I went to Japan for AIET (Autologous Immune Enhancement Therapy). Since the day before surgery I have written a number of letters/odes to Leftie Bestie for friends on FaceBook before transferring here to Substack. Find all previous eps here.
Dear Leftie Bestie,
It’s been a while, I’m really sorry that Rightie Tightie and I haven’t been in touch.
I just checked and our last letter to you was in May just after we got back from our treatment in Japan. I feel bad not to have written, for now it is September and I’m afraid there’s no excuse — we just got on with our lives.
I must add that sometimes, quite often in fact, Rightie Tightie and I even forgot about that fateful day when we said goodbye. I certainly had no memory of parting with you when I lost my memory for 8 hours in July in what turned out to be a TGA episode. I didn’t even remember going to Japan. I do remember it all now of course and every day when I have my morning shower I can see you are definitely not there. I guess I’ve gotten used to it, but most of the time I feel you as a presence instead of an absence, especially when I get little phantom pains, twinges and itches just like I used to. It’s a comfort really.
Of course Rightie Tightie and I will always have a level of guilt about sacrificing you for our common good and that may well be another reason for our silence. We haven’t discussed it at all but I’m sure on one level RT thinks it should have been her, while on the other she is pleased she can finally express her unique (albiet modest) qualities without always being compared to you.
But today we are writing to tell you the good news that we are officially cancer free. The Cell Free DNA blood test we did last month has come back all clear, so you can be sure that your sacrifice was not in vain. This test, while not yet offered in the Australian hospital system (as far as I know) is available privately and was even hailed recently in the international press. See Guardian article here.
We all know this cancer business is tricky and unpredictable — there is definitely way too much of it around for anyone’s liking lately. So while we are not jumping up and down on the spot as if we’ve won the lotto shouting, oh my god oh my god, we are doing a little victory dance and quietly saying phew!
So thank you LB for giving your life so we can go on living ours. And a huge thank you to all our generous friends, family and supporters who contributed to the fundraiser and made this result possible. The biggest thanks must go to my cancer advisor and advocate, Grace Gawler whose expert support and advice on this healing process has been beyond extraordinary. (If you want any more info about any part of my cancer journey I’m happy to explain more in a DM or email).
So what now LB? How do Rightie Tightie and I carry on from here?
Well, we are trying our best to follow all the anti cancer tips on diet, exercise and how to live a stress free life. There’s more than a few funny stories to tell from our dive down that rabbit hole which I will save for another time. Meanwhile even though it might not look like it, as I said in Ep 6 we’re still on a bit of a Go Slow. That’s what I’m calling it. Like we are not only heeding the command of the roadside traffic control person holding the lollipop sign, but we have become her. And all we have to do all day is chill out, hold the Go Slow sign, stare off into the distance, joke around with the rest of the crew and when the sun starts heading for the horizon, head home for dinner and bed.
Miss you LB, we’ll write again soon!
THIS MONTH’S SUBSTACK TREATS
There’s so much great reading here on substack that one could easily retire from the writing life and become a full time reader. Without any pressing deadlines you could stay up reading late into the night — see my post: Is Substack Keeping you Awake at Night? It’s hard to keep up with all the brilliant content coming at us 24/7 but here are a few of my favourites this month.
Jen Grisanti’s
— brilliant articulations of all the things I’ve always believed about story. 7am Novelist, great podcasts on all aspects of writing craft. The Flannel — focusing on self care, coming from one of my fave cities, Portland,Oregon.And special shout out to fellow Aussie
at Writing Beth. Check out her wonderful poems just posted for Dementia Week.
WRITERS JOURNEY NEWS
DRAFT BUSTERS ONLINE — Currently in session until Friday Oct 4. Motivation Mondays: 10 - 11.30 am AEST, set your goals for the week, discussion on various aspects of writer’s craft plus a meditative writing exercise. Feedback Fridays: 3.30 - 5.30 pm AEST, readings and feedback on up to 1000 words of your writing project. Workshops are held on Zoom. Contact Jan if you would like to join. Next Monthly Module starts Oct 14.
FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP — On the third Sunday of the month at 4pm AEST we meet to introduce our writing projects and do a meditative writing exercise. Open to all— beginners, experienced, published, non published. Next one falls on Oct 20. Contact Jan if you would like to join.
MENTORING — I have a number of mentoring packages available which can be tailored to your current needs. If you need a procrastination coach, someone to look over your manuscript or set ongoing deadlines, see here for what’s possible.
DESPERATE DEBRIEF — for paid subscribers, a free 45 minute chat about any aspect of your work, by Zoom or Whats App. Contact me to arrange.
UPCOMING JOURNEYS in 2025.
Creative Immersion in Ischia, Italy, May 3-10, 2025 for writers and artists. 7 nights, 8 days. We’ll be Elena Ferrante territory, visiting the sites of her Neopilitan novels when we catch a ferry from the Port of Naples across to the volcanic island of Ischia. Daily creativity workshops at our seaside hotel offer inspiration and guidance for your creative work. Immersing ourselves in the island’s healing thermal waters we do a deep dive into our work, employing creative journaling, paper art and collage to further our creative goals. An ideal environment to bring the senses into your writing and art making and really progress your work. In collaboration with the Create Escape. Booking and info here.
Haiku Walking in Japan, The Tokaido Way, November, 2025. Dates tbc. 6 days, 5-nights, starting in Hakone-Yumoto and finishing in Kurami Onsen near Kakegawa. For artists and writers.Daily workshops on the art of haiku, haibun and haiga. A gently-paced haiku walking tour along Japan’s greatest historic road (between Tokyo to Kyoto) aside the Pacific Ocean coast once walked by the famed haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), featured in Records of a Well Worn Satchel, and artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) for his iconic Fifty-Three Stages of the Tokaido series of woodblock prints. Staying at local inns and hotels, each evening after our walk we’ll feast on local cuisine and soak in the onsen. My idea of heaven! Send expression of interest by email or DM.
Celebrating 20 years of Writers Journey international journeys and retreats. See where we went, what we did here.
If you are new to my newsletter a warm welcome! I generally post writing/creativity tips and motivational articles, mixed in with eps from my current writing projects: a new segment Brush with Fame, a cancer journal, Letters to Leftie Bestie (My Left Breast) and a satirical flash fiction novella: The Everyday Musings of Louisa Greene. You can also find all eps of my travel memoir, Looking for Duras, a Mekong Journey, (where I go searching for traces of the French writer, Marguerite Duras in Vietnam and Cambodia) here.
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Keep up the great work 😍
Thank you for the shout out! I'm incredibly honored ♥️