Cancer is a growth hormone for empathy, and empathy makes us useful to each other in ways we were not, could not have been, before.
Interpretation
Cancer can enhance our capacity for empathy, enabling us to support one another more effectively than before.
In this quote, Kelly Corrigan suggests that the experience of dealing with cancer can foster a deeper sense of empathy among individuals. This newfound empathy not only helps those suffering from cancer feel less isolated but also cultivates stronger connections and support networks that were previously absent, illustrating the transformative power of shared suffering and compassion.
In practice
During a speech at a cancer awareness event.
We'll bury our mothers and fathers - shuttling our children off for sleepovers, jumping on red-eyes, telling eachother stories that hurt to hear, about gasping, agonal breaths, hospice nurses, scars and bruises and scabs, and how skin papers shortly after a person passes. We will nod in agreement that it is as much an honor to witness a person leave this world as it is to watch a person come into it.
Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security.
If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end.
People want to think that staying in shape costs a lot of money. They couldn't be more wrong. It doesn't cost anything to walk. And it's probably a lot cheaper to go to the corner store and buy vegetables than take a family out for fast food.
The term “starvation diet” refers to 900 calories a day. I was on one-third of a starvation diet. What do you call that? One word that comes to my mind: “suicide.
Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there.
I've always danced and exercised. I can't imagine not doing it. I'll be Martha Graham in my 90s doing contractions on the floor.
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