*Free* Pop-Up Writing Workshop: Making Sense of Work & Career Changes After Diagnosis (May 28)
A medical diagnosis often impacts more than our bodies. Most of us have first hand experience that our work and livlihood are not exempt from the far-reaching effects of a cancer diagnosis. Physical and mental changes cancer unleashes can alter the course of a career, schooling or overall earning potential.
That’s why we are we are diving into the work side of a breast cancer diagnosis at our free May Pop-Up Writing Workshop.
Are there constraints on your time with the ongoing doctor visits, scans, and blood work, or are treatment side-effects impacting your quality of work?
Has cancer altered your relationship with the work you do now?
Maybe the work you did before your diagnosis no longer lights you up?
Perhaps your priorities have shifted and cancer has inspired you to start your own business or pivot career paths entirely.
If brain fog or an unteniable work environment since your diagnosis has pushed you to make hard work decisions, we get it.
Do you have a story to tell about how your job or career has been impacted by cancer? Join me on May 28th to find the stories within you and meet others on the same path.
When: Tuesday, May 28, at 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST
Where/How: Live via Zoom
Cost: FREE
Why: Want to write about your experiences but aren’t sure where to begin? Maybe you love writing but have a hard time finding the time or maybe you don’t write currently but would like to try. A prompt-style writing workshop is just the thing for you. Prompts help you enter the page and guide your thoughts, so you don’t have to stare at a blinking cursor feeling lost and discouraged.
Join your Wildfire community on Tuesday, May 28 to learn how to start writing with others who understand you. In this 1.5 hour workshop, we’ll write away some of our stress — and find some healing in the long run by using writing as a tool to find meaning. You’ll make new friends and fill a notebook along the way, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer! No writing experience is necessary to participate.
The details:
Tuesday, May 28, 2023 at 12:30 – 3:30pm PST (90 min)
Where: Your computer over Zoom (although not required, headphones with a mic are helpful)
Who: People diagnosed with breast cancer under 50
Sharing tips and tricks for accessing and writing personal stories
Time to write, divided among different prompts
Discussion and optional sharing opportunities
No writing experience necessary, this workshop is for all levels of writers and non-writers who want an environment in which to practice and commune with others. We will discuss tricks and tips for accessing and writing personal stories, particularly related to traumatic and difficult life events, such as a predisposition to cancer, as well as practice writing via prompts. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their writing if they so desire. There will be no critics, only listening. No pressure to share.
April Johnson Stearns, Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, WILDFIRE Magazine. A lifelong writer, April was diagnosed at 35 years old with Stage 3 breast cancer that she found while breastfeeding her daughter. Four years later, while struggling to “go back to normal” and find other young women in similar circumstances, April launched WILDFIRE Magazine as a way for younger women to tell and read breast cancer stories. April believes strongly that helping women tell their stories has the dramatic effect of turning a traumatic cancer experience into an empowering one. April lives with her husband and young daughter on the coast of California. Although she loves town life, she also likes to get away from all the hustle and bustle whenever she can to hike in the woods, but writing remains April’s purest escape. April has been guiding cancer patients to access their stories through writing since 2016.
Related Wildfire Magazine issues: Subscribers can find 47 previous Wildfire Magazine issues in the digital archives. Others can purchase print and digital issues here.
