May we come together and offer support for our friend Bruce so he may heal with unconditional love.

A letter from Bruce:

I’ve never imagined organizing a fundraiser for my own health. A diagnosis of prostate cancer has changed my views on a lot of things. A date has been set for surgery to remove my prostate gland. I’ve had persistent symptoms during the past year which may be due to the cancer. The thought of a fundraiser has been dancing around me for several months. I’ve been staring at this screen for days trying to find the words to ask for financial support to focus on restoring my body to full health. A friend has encouraged me to set up this fundraiser and will help me with the process. Her encouragement to do this feels like a missing piece. Anything you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Much of my identity has been intertwined with being a “healer,” a helper and a writer of inspiring stories. I’ve also generally enjoyed good health and vitality. To be the one who is challenged by illness has been quite unsettling. The waves of fatigue that have been persistent during the past year are likely due to cancer. I also see this fatigue as a result of my fight against what is showing up in my life right now. I’ve been wanting to write a different story and yet the story to be told is exactly the one I’m penning now. Many people in the community are meeting me with a wellspring of love and support. There have been deeper, wonderful relational connections and unspoken healings. I’m very grateful for this. It may be that the telling of this story is a portal, an opening into a greater life than I could have imagined.

I’ve spoken often with the friend who is helping me with this fundraiser. She was treated for - and recovered from - breast cancer. Many of her experiences speak to what I’m facing now. It seems she has blazed the path that lies ahead of me, physically, psychologically and spiritually. Like me, asking for financial help was one of the most strange and difficult pieces. In her campaign she asked for help with medical costs, integrative modalities and living expenses and that is what I’ll need help with for a while. In her campaign she wrote “I want to remove as much financial stress as possible so I can focus on caring for myself.” I now see this as an act of humility. She was able to raise the money she needed and is now giving back to the community in remarkable ways.

I still go through emotions that feel heavy like a sack of bricks. And yet this lifts quite often to experiencing lightness, gratitude and even humor. There is a titration taking place that is offering me a kind of safety and also the confidence of true elderhood, like the calm waters beneath a storm that is raging at the surface. Like others who have come through similar life passages my vision is to emerge from this more present and able to offer to life what is truly needed.

Please know I am grateful for your contributions.

Thank you,

Bruce