How I Found Peace by Breaking Stuff
Andrew Garcia
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"Strike one!” I thought to myself as I swung my bat and missed the teacup innocently placed on an elevated platform for me to smash. My face slightly flushed with embarrassment, as I was the first to go up from my group of six, as they all watched behind me. I put more focus into my second swing and made sure to properly make contact and send the teacup’s remains flying to the armored wall of the control room. Immediately after, I went to the back of the makeshift line that the group made within the room and waited my turn. One by one, we would place objects on the elevated platform and break objects. But to me, it all seemed a bit forced and everyone seemed self-conscious. The room was awfully quiet besides the noise of glass shattering, but it was then that someone else raised the question that our music had not begun playing. Shortly after, we had a girly-pop music playing which made our afternoon activity of smashing objects ill-fitting for the music.
As the music continued playing and we all began to loosen up and laugh and take our time with smashing stuff. This is where I got the idea to have my own version of trap shooting within the smash room during my turn. The cups were the "clay targets" and the plates which I threw like a frisbee, my ranged "weapon." Unfortunately, I hit none of my targets, but it was worth a
shot. Meanwhile others would get the printer, TV, or fax machine and would smash it until it became bits. It was a blast to record each other doing activities without restraint in our own little shenanigans with smashing objects. “This is really fun!” I thought to myself, shortly before my group and I were told our 30 minutes were up - which went by too fast.
Overall, the experience made me feel like a kid once again, living with minimal worry and my main priority being to have fun. This event reminded me that I need to let loose despite everything that has happened to me. The unassuming building behind a Dairy Queen delivered on providing an experience I know I’d love to experience again. Thank you!
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Nathan's Joke:
Why was the broom late for work?
*Answer is at the end
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Slice of Life
How Extraordinary the Ordinary Can Be!
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Abigail Glavy
"Abigail, who has a broad smile and flowing red hair, had grown up seeing her beloved grandmother's mastectomy scars, and felt they'd done nothing to diminish her beauty. But when it came to herself, Glavy wondered, "Would somebody see me as whole?" Glavy felt both protective of her new body and terrified men would reject it. But she forged ahead, telling herself: "It can't be scarier than beating cancer."
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Share your Slice of Life with us! Send photos and write-ups to
Alex Huffman.
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Friday, February 21st, 8:30pm- Mavs Game! Our annual group outing at the Mavs is always a blast, and this year, we will watch them take on the Pelicans. Tickets are limited to you and a plus one. Please RSVP ASAP! We usually have a waitlist for this event.
Tuesday, February 25th, 7pm- Our hybrid support group meeting returns with a new format! More details will be emailed. We started a new tradition last year with a king cake taste test for Mardi Gras, and we will repeat that at the February meeting too!
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Tia wants to be sure to celebrate you during your birthday month! As a little incentive for those who submit your birthdays to our directory, we will enter you in a drawing for a prize that month!! Tia will draw the winner the first of the month. She will also send a birthday note your way on your special day!
Please use the Take Survey link below to share your birthday date with Tia.
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At January’s support group meeting, we started a discussion on the difference between needs and wants. A need is something we require to survive and thrive. Maybe you’ve heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that categorizes the experiences, feelings, and emotions we require from physiological tangibles like food to self-actualization, like expressing our creativity or exploring our mortality. And then there are wants. A want is something we desire to enhance our lives.
Having our needs met allows us to safely pursue our wants, and our wants help us meet our needs in ways that are unique and satisfying to each of us individually. The existence of wants and needs are not flaws or luxuries, they are facts that come accompany being human. While Maslow’s hierarchy is helpful in understanding how human needs are organized and motivated, I lovingly encourage you to resist putting your own needs and wants into a hierarchy. This can make our lives feel prescriptive. I hope this meditation may encourage you to mindfully tune into your experience of needs and wants and to see that by paying attention to what we need in each moment also gives us the freedom to meet that need in a responsive way.
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Sit up as straight as you are able, and gently close your eyes. For this practice, it is helpful to start with a few minutes of concentration practice to truly settle.
Pick a location in the body where you can feel the body breathing and tune in to the sensations of the breath for a couple of minutes.
Bring to mind a recent situation that you found difficult or painful. Without falling too far into the story, acknowledge how this experience feels in the present moment.
With the memory and experience present in your consciousness, ask yourself what you needed in that moment.
Focus on general emotional needs, like compassion, understanding, and insight. With this difficulty, what would have helped you? When a need pops up, say to yourself, “I needed _______.”
Continue to tune in to other needs, really pausing to acknowledge each one.
After a few minutes, turn your awareness to your experience in the present.
Refraining from stories and goals, ask yourself what you need right now.
Let go of thoughts about getting stuff done, completing tasks, and pleasing others.
Focus on your deeper needs of self-care, patience, or whatever is true for you in this moment.
Wrapping up this exercise, reflect on your own capacity to meet your needs.
Can you do something to meet those needs right now? Are there any needs you have that are not within your power to fulfill?
Offer yourself self-care, compassion, and patience.
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Sam's Writing Prompt
What if you made friends with your cancer or the struggles it brought into your life—not because you like them, but to take away their power to define you? Write about how you might approach this ‘friendship’ and how it could change how you navigate life moving forward.
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Dr. Samantha (Sam) Dean is a metastatic melanoma survivor and former patient at UTSW. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in English in 2012 and went straight into working with college students facing academic dismissal. She used her writing & speaking skills to mentor these students in asking questions, composing professional emails, using resources available to them, etc. Sam went on to receive an M.B.A. with a focus on both Sustainable Business and Marketing, then a Ph.D. in Public Policy & Political Economy. While working her way up in academia and getting all these fancy letters behind her name, Sam was doing freelance writing work. It wasn’t until after her melanoma diagnosis in 2020 that she decided to use all these skills to cope. She started freeform writing about what it felt like trying to survive as a 30-year-old woman in a male-dominated world while literally trying to survive. Since going into remission in May 2021, Sam has quit working full-time in academic administration. She now owns a full-service marketing agency, has authored a guided journal for cancer patients and survivors, published a children’s book, and teaches cancer survivors and teenagers how to express themselves through writing, whether via poetry, journaling, or creating a bomb resume to switch careers. When Sam isn’t working (which is hard to imagine because she has too many jobs), you can find her snuggling with her dogs, spending time with her nephews, or reading what she will undoubtedly claim is the next Great American Novel. | |
Cooking with Chris!
Lasagna Rolls
Happy February, YACS! This month, I am featuring lasagna rolls. These are super easy, tasty, and the perfect comfort food on a cold night!
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Ingredients:
- 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
- 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced, chopped
- 1 large egg, beaten to blend
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting the water
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
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Directions:
- To make the sauce, melt butter in a heavy medium-sized saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the béchamel sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
- Add a Tablespoon or two of oil to a large pot of boiling, salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
- Butter a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour béchamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface. Spread a large spoonful (about 3 Tablespoons) of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.
- Starting at one end, roll each noddle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the béchamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining lasagna noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and remaining 2 Tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls.
- Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes.
- Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer.
- Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.
Enjoy!
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Joke Answer
...It over-swept!
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