Nicci de Wet-du Toit

Sitting at the feet of masters

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Death in all forms has been a part of my life since I was a six-year old growing up in South Africa. Each death felt like something that was connected to me got lost or broke off. I was drawn to discussions about death and found it odd and irritating…
Christine Flagler

The gift of living with cancer

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Christine was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 39, and when it recurred at 42, her doctors told her she probably wouldn’t survive. Now, at 80, she’s lived with cancer for more than half her life. “When I didn’t die…
Lori Tupper

The tightrope

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Every morning, I wake up and walk the line to the bathroom (as most people do), but two years ago, when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, the line became a tightrope. My balance became very important to me as the cancer…
David Talmor

An elephant-sized impact

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I could say that participating in the “Dying Without the Elephant” healing circle changed my life, but that would be an understatement. It changed my death, which turns out to have an even greater impact. I have what Robin Williams had:…
Snowy winter scene

Words from a Caregiver 

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Claire Robson from Vancouver, Canada, joined a new healing circle at Callanish and shares her experience and perspective as a member. 
Commonweal bluffs

Caring for a Soulmate

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Deborah Baker first learned about healing circles at Commonweal’s Cancer Help Program. She describes her caregiver journey and how healing circles could have helped. She is inspired to start a healing circle for caregivers in Hawaii.
Fire in wood stove

A Healing Circle for Supporters

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As co-host of a new healing circle for caregivers at Callanish (in Vancouver, Canada), Susie lets the circle do the work. With minimal structure, the participants create their own healing and meet their own needs. 

Healing Circles and Existential Issues

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Sometimes the topics brought up during our healing circles feel dizzying in their scope and make me wonder: Is there anything that is not fair game? Not really, because when we open the spaces for an exploration of the internal landscape, we…

A Conversation with a Widow’s Nervous System

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The pain of loss is such an isolating experience, where the outside and inside of us are not aligned. We are out of sync with humanity, and yet we are inside an experience that each and every one of us will have.

‘I Am Rushing:’ a Mantra of Love and Memory

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I have just returned from spending time with a dear friend and her husband. They are living in what I have come to call “Illness Time” ­ not a period of time spent ill, but time itself defined by illness.