Young adulthood is often imagined as a time of momentum. Plans, milestones, and possibilities stretching ahead. When cancer enters that season of life, it can reshape the path in ways most people our age never expect. Alongside the resilience and creativity that many young adults carry, there is also grief. Grief for bodies that feel different, timelines that shifted, loss of imagined futures, loss of hair, relationships that changed, and for the heartbreaking loss of friends and loved ones within our community.
This special two-hour edition of The Inner Canvas is being held to create space for the grief many of us are carrying.
Together, we will honor loved ones we have lost while also making space for the many other forms of loss that can accompany cancer in young adulthood. This session will follow the signature Inner Canvas “creative smorgasbord” format, offering a range of gentle practices participants can engage with at their own pace. Over the course of the group, we will move through journaling and writing prompts, simple doodling and sketching exercises, and optional group sharing. We will spend time creating short poems in honor of the losses we have carried. Participants will be invited to write a haiku to capture a memory, a feeling, or a moment of remembrance.
Those who complete the haiku activity will have the option to submit their work, and Cactus Cancer Society will offer a small memorial gift: your poem printed on compostable seed paper. You can plant it in soil and watch it grow, allowing something living to emerge alongside the grief you carry.
We will also hold a dedicated moment during the gathering to remember loved ones who have passed. Participants are invited to submit photos and/or names of young adults they that has passed from cancer in advance using the button below so we can honor them together during the session. Please submit information by no later than April 13th, 2026.
Grief and love often travel together. This gathering is a chance to hold both.
Who: Young adult patients/survivors (ages 18 to 45) impacted by cancer
What: A 2-hour guided creative grief workshop led by Lauren Morales, LCSW, and Aerial Donovan, CPO & Co-Founder of Cactus Cancer Society. Participants who attend and submit their written poetry will receive their work via mail on compostable seed paper.
When: Every Third Wednesday of the month!
This special edition is two hours* April 15th, 2026 @ 3 pm- 5 pm PT/5 pm-7 pm CT/6 pm-8 pm ET
Where: Virtual on Zoom