October 2023 WATERritual
The Faces of Breast Cancer
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 7:30 pm ET
“No one should face breast cancer alone.”
—2023 Theme for October Breast Cancer Month
Watch the recording of this WATERritual here on YouTube. Below this script are the slides.
Preparation:
Place a pink candle, ribbon, and/or sash near you.
Welcome and Land Acknowledgment
Welcome to our WATERritual, “The Faces of Breast Cancer.” We begin our time together by acknowledging the land on which we sit. The Piscataway and Anacostan peoples have lived here on the land known as the Washington, DC area for generations. We follow in their footsteps. Type in the chat the names of the indigenous peoples of the land where you live to honor them.
Prayer for Peace
Because our world desperately needs peace, we begin with a prayer for peace written by Mary E. Hunt on October 12, 2023.
WATER Weeps
As we grieve, let us make peace.
As we make peace, let us grasp hands in hope.
As we grasp hands, the children will see the love through our tears.
WATER grieves, hopes, loves, and weeps for peace.
Call to Gather
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worldwide annual campaign raising up the faces of breast cancer to highlight the importance of breast awareness, education, and research. About one in eight women born today in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. The good news is that most people can survive breast cancer if it is detected and treated early.
We gather to be in solidarity with those who have or have had breast cancer, their friends, colleagues, and loved ones. We support women with breast cancer and assure them that they are not alone. “No one should face breast cancer alone” is the 2023 theme for October Breast Cancer Month.
We give thanks for Dr. Susan Love and honor her legacy as one of the world’s most visible public faces in the war on breast cancer. She was a groundbreaking surgeon, tireless breast health advocate, and author of the best-selling “Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book,” which has long been considered the go-to resource for people living with breast cancer. She was a researcher, activist, and friend of WATER. She died on July 2, 2023 at her home in Los Angeles at age 75 of a recurrence of leukemia. We remember you, Susan.
Song: “Come, Drink Deep” by Carolyn McDade, from Rain Upon Dry Land (Surtsey Publishing © 1983).
Come drink deep of living waters
Without cup bend close to the ground
Wade with bare feet into troubled waters
Where love of life abounds.
Come drink deep.
I turn my head to sky rains falling
Wash the wounds of numbness from my soul,
Turn my heart in tides of fierce renewal
Where love and rage run whole.
Come drink deep.
Come rains of heaven on the dry seed
Rains of love on every tortured land
Roots complacent awaken in compassion
So hope springs in our hands
Come drink deep.
Litany of Remembrance
Let us remember and name some of the brave and courageous women with breast cancer whose lives have affected ours.
Barbara Rosenblum, Jewish sociologist, co-author of Cancer in Two Voices, died of breast cancer in August 1988.
We remember you, Barbara. Sound the Zen bowl.
Audre Lorde, poet laureate of New York State in 1991, influential black writer on feminist, racial, lesbian, and sexual issues, died of breast cancer November 17, 1992.
We remember you, Audre. Sound the Zen bowl.
Sheryl Crow, Jane Fonda, Heidi Heitkamp, Sandra Day O’Connor, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Gloria Steinem, Ann Romney, Hoda Kotb, Melissa Etheridge, Robin Roberts, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Andrea Mitchell, Ruby Dee, Cokie Roberts, Masumi Miyazaki, Robin Williams, Wendy Rieger, and so many others surviving or dying from breast cancer.
We remember you. Sound the Zen bowl.
Let us name the women we know who are living with or have died of breast cancer.
Type their names in the chat.
We remember you. Sound the Zen bowl.
Women who will die today of breast cancer, and women who will survive.
We remember you. Sound the Zen bowl.
Listen to Women with Cancer
Women who are living with breast cancer have many concerns. Most are concerned with body image and the side effects of treatment such as hair loss, infections from Chemo, weakened immune system, external ports on their body, tattooing, and fatigue. A cancer diagnosis can impact marriages and partnerships, family relationships, routines, parenting, friendships, and intimacy. Being busy with medical appointments can cause fatigue, as well as less time and energy for family, relationships, and self.
A cancer diagnosis can be frightening and life-disruptive, but support from loved ones makes it easier to face this journey.
Listen to women with cancer.
“My world turned upside down at seven o’clock on the morning of March 8 as I stood in the shower. A lump in the breast. A moment of panic. So begins a journey that every woman fears.”
—Susanna, health-care provider
“Cancer wakes you up, and you say, ‘There must be more out there to life. I wonder what that is.’”
—Jill Eikenberry, actress
“My cancer scare changed my life. I’m grateful for every new, healthy day I have. It has helped me prioritize my life.”
—Olivia Newton-John, singer
“What does it mean to say I have survived until you take the mirrors and turn them outward and read your own face in their outraged light?”
—Adrienne Rich, poet, from “Corralitos Under Rolls of Cloud,” in An Atlas of the Difficult World (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1991)
“With one breast or none, I am still me. The sum total of me is infinitely greater than the number of my breasts.”
—Alice Walker, author, endorsement for The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde (San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books, 2006)
“Cancer treatment takes all the stuffing out of you. Words jumble together; you have no energy; concentration is impossible. Just when I needed prayer the most, it eluded me.”
—Elizabeth Thoman, CHM, photographer, founder of Healing Petals and the Center for Media Literacy, in conversation at WATER, 2015.
The first three quotes are from Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Breast Cancer by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Mary Olsen Kelly (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2005).
Video: Andrea’s Story
Reflection / Sharing
How has breast cancer touched you? What has helped you and your loved ones through this journey?
Blessing with Light
Hold your candle. Think of a word of blessing that you wish to offer now. Let us bless this light with our words.
This light is for …… (hope, endurance, calm, and more).
May the blessing of light be upon you, light on the outside and light on the inside. With Divine light shining on you and through you, may your heart glow with warmth and bring you peace.
Amen. Blessed be. May it be so.
Take Action
Let us put our blessings into action. Here are some possible ways:
- Learn about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
- Know your body and advocate for yourself.
- Ask doctors and nurses to speak to women about the importance of getting screened for breast cancer.
- Encourage all women to consult with their doctors about getting mammograms.
- Get a mammogram yourself.
Blessing of Peace
Let us close our time together by sharing a blessing of peace. Hold your candle. Breathe in peace. Breathe out peace to the places and people in the world that need it. Breathe peace.
Song: “PINK,” the theme song for Susan G. Koman
Learn More from These Resources
Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Close to the Bone: Life-Threatening Illness as a Soul Journey. San Francisco, CA: Conari Press, 2007.
Boucher, Sandy. Hidden Spring: A Buddhist Woman Confronts Cancer. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2000.
Bray, Sharon A. When Words Heal: Writing through Cancer. Berkeley, CA: Frog, Ltd. Books, 2006.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, Mary Olsen Kelly, and Edward Creagan. Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Breast Cancer. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2005.
Dackman, Linda. Affirmations, Meditations, and Encouragements for Women Living with Breast Cancer. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
Delinsky, Barbara. Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. New York: Washington Square Press, 2001.
Katz, Rebecca, with Marsha Tomassi and Mat Edelson. One Bit at a Time: Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and Their Friends. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 2004.
Love, Susan M. Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2015.
Mulligan, Gina L. Dear Friend: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love from Women with Breast Cancer. San Francisco CA: Chronicle Books LLC, 2017.
Muschal-Reinhardt, Rosalie, and The Prism Collective et al. Rituals for Women Coping with Breast Cancer. Rochester, NY: Quality Books, 2000.
Neu, Diann L. Seasons of Survival: Prayers and Rituals for Women with Cancer. WATERworks Press, 2009.
Neu, Diann L. Seasons of Healing: Journaling and Resources. WATERworks Press, 2010.
Neu, Diann L. Seasons of Compassion: Resources for Companions of Those Needing Healing. WATERworks Press, 2011.
Oktay, Julianne S. Breast Cancer: Daughters Tell Their Stories. New York: Haworth Press, 2005.
Raz, Hilda, ed. Living on the Margins: Women Writers on Breast Cancer. New York: Persea Books, 1999.
Townes, Emilie M. Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Issues and a Womanist Ethic of Care. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006.
The National Breast Cancer Coalition, www.natlbcc.org.
Susan G. Komen, ww5.komen.org/.
Dr. Susan Love’s Website for Women, www.susanlovemd.org.
Faces of Breast Cancer, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/well/breast-cancer-stories.
Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Cancer Support Programs, Washington, DC, www.smithcenter.org
