The sky's the limit.
The Cielem’el Survival and Growth Journal evolved out of two web logs I have maintained over time.
Begun in 2009 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32, The Cielem’el Cancer Journal documented my trials, tribulations, and spiritual growth during breast cancer treatment, with information on the diagnoses, surgeries, chemotherapy treatments, radiation, and hormone therapy treatments, as well as all the personal and professional life stuff that still goes on throughout living a life with cancer. As a breast cancer survivor, I endeavor to inspire other young women like myself to fully engage and manage their cancer and treatments, and know that there are many women out there who are experiencing a similarly challenging emotional journey. Life doesn’t stop because you have cancer, it just gets more challenging.
About a year after finishing radiation, while still posting to The Cielem’el Cancer Journal, I started posting The Cielem’el Personal & Spiritual Growth Blog, which focused more clearly on areas of personal growth, self-development, and spiritual growth. My life journey and growth as a person neither began nor ended with cancer, and the Personal Growth blog was more of a continual journal of life experiences and learnings along my ongoing life journey beyond cancer. The journey honestly began when I was a newborn, shuffled and abused in multiple foster homes before being adopted by absolutely wonderful parents, and my life journey, consciously and continuously seeking personal growth, self development, and spiritual growth continues to evolve.
Over time it became clear that these two subjects cannot be divorced and maintained separately, because it is everything together that makes my web log what it is, meaning, an online journal of life experiences, survival, and growth from the perspective of someone who has survived multiple severe life trials and nurtured a conscious approach to personal and spiritual growth and self development. Hence, The Cielem’el Survival & Growth Journal. :)
OMG, I had the BEST dream with Artie last night. I was dying to write it out this morning, but then work just had too many urgent things and now I barely remember the dream. I wanted to write about it because it would feel good to be able to read it and remember how it felt again later. […]
Continue reading »OMG, I had the BEST dream with Artie last night. I was dying to write it out this morning, but then work just had too many urgent things and now I barely remember the dream. L I wanted to write about it because it would feel good to be able to read it and remember how it felt again later. […]
Continue reading »Who would have thought some guy would had held a grudge against me for twenty years for “stealing” his best friend in high school. We all make our own choices, and John and spent all our time together in high school, because we were in love and both seemed to feel every experience to have a greater richness if we […]
Continue reading »How do you know what is real? Because you feel it? Because you can see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, or smell it? Objective Reality Isn’t Really Enough If you believe in an objective reality, a reality that is mind-independent, that means “reality” just is what it is, there is no “out there” out there, and reality is […]
Continue reading »I went into Glacier National Park today. Good thing I was in the Jeep, because the road goes down to single lane dirt road in places, and even the outcroppings look dangerous for anything tall like a van. There are signs at the gate that say vehicles longer than 21 feet or more than 10 feet high are not allowed […]
Continue reading »I went for a little Jeep ride in the Couer d’Alene National Forest, but it was so much like home that I decided to leave earlier in the day than planned, which was good because the drive to Glacier is all on slow roads and the whole way I was worried about low bridges, power lines, and tight turns. The […]
Continue reading »I drove to Coeur d’Alene today, in northern Idaho. It’s beautiful here! The lake is amazing. But the forest is just like home, so I think I’ll stay with my original plan of one night here and then two nights at Glacier. Satellite works like a charm!
Continue reading »I went to get the internet satellite installed today in Eugene, Oregon. This day was the purpose of my entire trip. But hell, Don (who owns the satellite place) had a practically new previously-owned MotoSat XF2, which a REALLY good dish that I couldn’t afford new (which is like $12,000 + $900 for installation). But this “used “ one (I […]
Continue reading »This morning when I woke up and opened the curtains, get this, Old Faithful was right there, right out my front windows! I had to walk over and see the first geyser of the morning, so I got a later start out than I had planned. I had thought I’d get up at six and get going, but since I […]
Continue reading »I woke up early (like 5AM or something) and I got out on the road right away. I’d already been through most of the Black Hills, and I’m coming back this way plus I’ve been here many times before, so I just got back out on the road and headed west. As I looked at the map, I saw how […]
Continue reading »I slept in this morning until 9AM. It was the first day in more than a month that I didn’t get up at 5AM (or 4AM, or 3AM) to work. So I got a late start on my road trip, but I wasn’t too concerned because for this first night I was only planning to get to the Black Hills […]
Continue reading »OMG, I HATE WALKING! Mom wanted me to see this cancer walk thing they do here in Yankton. We took just a short walk around the park to see everything, and I was in agony. It was too far for me to walk. Sickening. What would have been a simple five-minute stroll two years ago is now a 20-30 minute […]
Continue reading »Uff da. The weather in Rawlins was AWFUL and the RV was blowing around so much it scared the cats and kept me awake. And of course release is today, so I was all stressed out like cramming for finals. But I got it all out by 7PM, and I put in a movie while I had some apples and […]
Continue reading »Uff da. The weather in Rawlins was AWFUL and the RV was blowing around so much it scared the cats and kept me awake. And of course release is today, so I was all stressed out like cramming for finals. But I got it all out by 7PM, and I put in a movie while I had some apples and […]
Continue reading »I’m working my bum off, getting up at 3AM in order to have conference calls with India and make sure we stayed on track for the release. I worked all last weekend too, but at least it looks like we’ll actually make the release date now. Last weekend it was looking impossible with the problems they had had on the […]
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