Sunsets and Visualization

Back on October 7, I wrote about visualizing the cancer cells dancing in the sunset like Dorothy and her friends the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man. I continue to do the visualization as often as I think of it, usually during meditation or when viewing a sunset. My image is still essentially that the cells are moving toward the sunset, a natural cell death (apoptosis), and out of my body. I have seen some stunningly beautiful sunsets over the past months, but usually when I don't have my camera handy. The sunset here was photographed from our front porch last month, and only begins to capture the colors and the beauty of this winter sunset viewed through the trees.

Sometimes the cancer cells bring their "own" images to the visualization experience, which is always a surprise, and sometimes a question. One day later in October, the cells were all backed up as if behind a locked door (like people trapped in a fire behind an exit door that won't open). I "opened" the door and watched the cells flood out, and I directed them to the sunset, wishing them "apoptosis" as they flowed. This image had me concerned about the cancer spreading quickly for a while, but with some time having passed since then, and having had a good scan in November, I'm less anxious. And, after that image, when I "gathered" the cells in my mind's eye to travel to the sunset, it seemed there were fewer cells than there had been.

In December, one morning, the cells had picks and shovels over their "shoulders" (well, where their shoulders would be if they had them! They actually do look a little like a Pac-Man, with his round body, with skinny arms and legs), and they were skipping and singing/whistling "Whistle While You Work." This image also gave me some pause, as I don't want those cancer cells doing any work but dying, but it came around the time of my day surgery to remove "the spot," so I'm hoping the work was to go into the sunset and off to the pathology lab!

This morning, the cells were in a playful mood, and they were rolling off to the sunset, and singing something. But now, despite racking my brain, I can't remember what they were singing!

After my first description of the visualization, my friend Susan H said that she imagined me waving a "magic wand" and saying "shazzam" or some such magical word. I had to admit that I don't usually see it with the magic, but everytime I visualize her image of it, I have a chuckle. And once or twice, I've had a wand to wave.

Does the visualization make a difference? I have the same answer I had four months ago. I just don't know. But visualizing the cells, and visualizing them heading for a natural cell death as they approach a gorgeous, colorful sunset, gives me some measure of working consciously to combat their spread. And that's a good thing.