Join A 3-Part Holiday Journaling Workshop

holiday banner

Lacuna Loft is excited to bring back this special holiday program!

It’s a Wonderful Life: Taking Care during the Holidays.  A 3-part online journaling workshop for young adult cancer patients and survivors.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like” an even busier time of year! The holiday season brings nostalgia (like a favorite song), connection to family and friends and an undercurrent of expectation. There can be an added layer of managing expectations to be positive and happy – even in the middle of treatment or when everyone appears to look “fine” when, inside, they are not.

Finding peace between the wrapping paper and the stuffing is within reach! Join us for a 3 part holiday journal writing workshop to design a plan for low stress, create or reconnect with meaningful traditions, and decorate your soul with a little TLC.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients and survivors.

When: The writing group meets on Sundays at 2 pm PT / 4 pm CT / 5 pm ET for 2 hours each week, for 3 parts, meeting on December 1st, 8th, and 15th.  A commitment to attend every date is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time

The workshop is led by Jean Rowe LCSW, OSW-C.  She is a Certified Journal Therapist who has been in the field of oncology for 15 years and has crafted many journal writing programs for cancer survivors.

Online Writing Workshop Now Forming

woman writing

I am super excited to announce that our next Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop is now forming!  The group is 8 weeks long and will take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers.

Starting Tuesday, September 24th, the Fall 2019 Program Session will meet each Tuesday for 8 weeks from 5-7 pm PT / 7-9 pm CT / 8-10 pm ET.  (September 24th – November 12th).

This group is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers. Each 8-week program session consists of a weekly writing night (Tuesdays this time around) attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 15-person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  Sign up will close as soon as the group is full!

I Look At The Ground Now

Peanuts cartoon strip

I look at the ground now.
I don’t dare lift my head too high.
There are cracks in the sidewalk,
Precariously placed rocks,
And gnarly roots waiting patiently
To trip me up.
I don’t want to be caught off guard.
The truth scrapes up my knees.
It’s cold, and it’s hard.

I look at the ground now.
I put all my weight
In this present moment.
I try to own it –
The place where my body
Connects to the earth.
I count out my footprints
Do they measure my worth?

I look at the ground
In case there isn’t a horizon.
I don’t want to know
That all my stars have fallen.
I don’t want to plan for a future
That might never be here.
I’ll just keep moving forward
Until the ground disappears.

I look at the ground
So I won’t stray from the path.
I know where I’m going,
And there is safety in that.

I look at the ground,
And it is broken and rough.
But I am here.
I am now.
Isn’t that enough?

– Laura P.

How would you respond to the writing prompt, of the Peanuts comic strip?

—

This writing comes directly from one of our participants in our Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Group for young adult cancer survivors.  The participants met for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks during our Spring 2019 session.  This writing has not been edited since its original creation, showing the wonderfully raw and powerful prose coming from the courageous writing group participants each week.  If you’d like to sign up for future sessions, please email info@lacunaloft.org or sign up on our interest form.

Join A One Night Creative Writing Workshop

writing in notebook

Interested in checking out what it’s like to join the Unspoken Ink Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop before committing to 8 weeks of the group? You’re in luck! Sign up for an Open Write Night (aka Unorthodox Ink) happening August 26th!  You can spend an evening with other young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers and do some creative writing while you’re at it.  We’ll guide you through our writing process and you’ll see exactly what joining a full session is like.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset, a webcam, and something to write in (or your computer to type on).

Who: Young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: August 26th, 5:30-7:30 pm PT / 7:30-9:30 pm CT / 8:30-10:30 pm ET.

Not Broken. Not Mending.

sewing a scar closed tattoo

What if we started from the premise:
we are not broken.
we are not mending.

We are living through one day that just so happens to be nothing like the last.  We are crying tears few our age understand and grieving losses too old for our young years.

What if we started from the understanding:
we are not broken.
we are not fighting.

We are seeing glimpses into a world more complicated than might be.  Nursing wounds both inside and out.  We are learning to love and live in a way both profound and terrifying.

What if we start from the knowledge:
we are not broken.

There is nothing to fix, everything to lose, and everything to gain.  Just like before.

What if we start to tell ourselves:
we are not broken.

We are in process.  We are changing.  We are living in and through great hurt and compassion.

How would you respond to the writing prompt, a tattoo of a needle and thread sewing up a scar?

—

This writing comes directly from one of our participants in our Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Group for young adult cancer survivors.  The participants met for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks during our Winter 2018 session.  This writing has not been edited since its original creation, showing the wonderfully raw and powerful prose coming from the courageous writing group participants each week.  If you’d like to sign up for future sessions, please email info@lacunaloft.org or sign up on our interest form.

Your Task Is Not To Seek For Love…

rumi quote unspoken ink prompt

Am I unlovable?
Am I too different?
Am I too extra?
I wanted to start in my own rom-com and have someone fall head over heels for me.
Am I letting past hurts keep the wall up?
Am I not allowing myself to trust?
Am I too scared to be vulnerable?
Why is needing someone wrong? Why is wanting to feel needed so wrong?
Am I too set in my ways?
Am I too tainted to wear white?
Am I too hard to please?
I want that connection. I want to feel like I’ve come home.
Am I too sensitive?
Am I too zany?
Am I too clever?
Why is finding someone who can naturally banter and laugh so difficult? Is that saying in order to find love, you must love yourself first really true? Isn’t it more about timing and creating opportunities?
There is a heaviness to me that wasn’t there in the past. I now see that I will never be attracted to average or simple. I can’t connect with someone who hasn’t been through something earth shattering.
Am I asking too much?
Am I wanting too much?
Am I too much?

by Megan-Claire Chase

Megan-Claire Chase is a three-year breast cancer survivor in Atlanta, GA. She is a marketing project manager by day. In her spare time, she writes a blog called Life On The Cancer Train and is a published cancer blogger for Lacuna Loft, IHadCancer.com, CancerBro, Humor Beats Cancer, GRYT Health, WILDFIRE Magazine and Rethink Breast Cancer just to name a few. One of her biggest achievements in 2019 was co-presenting an abstract on AYA perspectives on fertility preservation conversations with healthcare providers at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) conference in Atlanta. She also has cat named Nathan Edgar who is her pride and joy.

How would you respond to the writing prompt, Companion?

—

This writing comes directly from one of our participants in our Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Group for young adult cancer survivors.  The participants met for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks during our Spring 2019 session.  This writing has not been edited since its original creation, showing the wonderfully raw and powerful prose coming from the courageous writing group participants each week.  If you’d like to sign up for future sessions, please email info@lacunaloft.org or sign up on our interest form.

Be My Companion

companion poem

We know all about you.
Your reputation precedes you.
You’re a destroyer of the good and bad.
You cause permanent damage to the body.
You wrap us in poison and dip us in pain.
You stomp hard on any strength that desperately tries to hold on.
You kill cancer but wreak so much havoc along the way.
You’re not the partner we choose.
Your tango is too complicated.
We don’t want to remember these twirls and drags across the floor.
Leave us be.
Unfortunately, your sounds linger.
They echo in every room.
Your music makes beads of sweat pour down the face.
Hearts beat faster.
Pulse runs rapid.
No, take your moves to another dance company.
Your technique is barbaric.
It’s not welcomed.
There is no comfort in you.
Take your final bow chemo.
Your time in the spotlight has come to an end.

by Megan-Claire Chase

Megan-Claire Chase is a three-year breast cancer survivor in Atlanta, GA. She is a marketing project manager by day. In her spare time, she writes a blog called Life On The Cancer Train and is a published cancer blogger for Lacuna Loft, IHadCancer.com, CancerBro, Humor Beats Cancer, GRYT Health, WILDFIRE Magazine and Rethink Breast Cancer just to name a few. One of her biggest achievements in 2019 was co-presenting an abstract on AYA perspectives on fertility preservation conversations with healthcare providers at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) conference in Atlanta. She also has cat named Nathan Edgar who is her pride and joy.

How would you respond to the writing prompt, Companion?

—

This writing comes directly from one of our participants in our Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Group for young adult cancer survivors.  The participants met for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks during our Spring 2019 session.  This writing has not been edited since its original creation, showing the wonderfully raw and powerful prose coming from the courageous writing group participants each week.  If you’d like to sign up for future sessions, please email info@lacunaloft.org or sign up on our interest form.

Next Writing Workshop Starts Next Week!

online writing workshop

Update:  The Writing Workshop is now full.  Please sign up on the interest form below to be notified when the next session is forming.

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer patient/survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.

The next session will start on Thursday, April 25th, meeting each Thursday at 3:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm CT / 6:30 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat through Thursday, June 13th. (please note our earlier start time!)

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients/survivors and young adult cancer caregivers.

(Lacuna Loft considers anyone diagnosed with cancer, at any stage of the experience, to be a survivor!)

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

How does it work:

  • This workshop uses the Amherst Writing and Artists (AWA) Method.  The facilitator provides a writing prompt and you can use that prompt in any way you’d like to create a story over a set amount of time. Once we’ve finished our writing (yes, the facilitator writes too!), everyone is given the opportunity to read their writing out loud. Though sharing is optional, hearing your own story and hearing someone else’s, teaches us about our experiences and our stories. Once the piece is read, we reflect on the writing – what did we like, what stood out, what did we remember. Everything is considered fiction so we do not respond to the writer as a support group may, but keep the focus on the writing.
  • Sometimes the prompts are about cancer, sometimes indirectly related to cancer, and sometimes not about cancer at all. Above all, the writing program emphasizes that we are more than a diagnosis.
  • Following each weekly session, you may decide to submit your writing to Mallory (mallory@lacunaloft.org) for publication on LacunaLoft.org in their Young Adult Voices program section. This is not mandatory!

Sponsored in part by a grant from Shire and an anonymous donor.

Join A One Night Writing Workshop!

young adult cancer creative writing group

Interested in checking out what it’s like to join the online Unspoken Ink: Young Adult Cancer Creative Writing Workshop before committing to 8 weeks of the group?  You’re in luck!  On April 3rd from 5-7 pm PT / 7-9 pm CT / 8-10 pm ET we’ll be hosting an Open Write Night (aka Unorthodox Ink)! You can spend an evening with other young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers and do some guided creative writing while you’re at it.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam (either one that’s external or built into your computer/tablet/smartphone).

Who: Young adult cancer patients/survivors and young adult cancer caregivers.

When: April 3rd, 5-7 pm PT / 7-9 pm CT / 8-10 pm ET.

Join The Next Online Unspoken Ink Creative Writing Workshop!

writing desk

The next Writing Workshop is now forming!  Sign up on the form below!

The next session will start on Wednesday, January 9th, meeting each Wednesday at 3 pm PT / 5 pm CT / 6 pm ET for 2 hours via video chat until Wednesday, February 27th. (please note our earlier start time!)

Our online, Unspoken Ink: Creative Writing Workshop is designed to take you on a journey through your cancer diagnosis and into your survivorship with a small group of your young adult cancer survivor peers. Each 8-week Writing Workshop consists of a weekly writing night attended via online video chat. We will get to know one another in an intimate, 18 person setting and address issues that transport us from initial diagnosis into the new normal and survivorship.  To learn more about the method we use, go here!

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer survivors and caregivers.

When: The writing group meets for 2 hours each week, for 8 weeks. A commitment to attend each week is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂