…..“an otherwise mainstream mother and wife….transformed from a person who believed only in the visible and the proven to someone open to the idea of larger, unseen forces.”
Those words describe Hope Edelman, author of a new book, The Possibility of Everything; but they also could have described me—another skeptical Jewish girl from the east coast.
Maybe it happens after living so many years in California…… where sometimes I can forget how many people remain skeptical about the traditional/alternative world of healing—and people like Edelman, a young mother who turned to native healers, folk remedies, and plants to help her young daughter on a week-long vacation in Belize— that turned into a deeper journey on a spiritual level.
Just as Edelman is different, ten years after her journey, so am I.
It took an entire book to describe her experience; this one blog post isn’t going to do it for me. Where would I even start?
Right after I got cancer a friend called; someone who had known me for years, and knew my East coast mindset. She told me about a woman she called “a healer”…..and she wanted to convince me to see her.
She didn’t need to twist my arm.
When your options close down, it’s amazing how your mind can open up.
I would have tried anything and everything . And I did. There’s too much to describe here, or now. I know much less than Hope Edelman and so many others. But I believe I’m here today because I took a leap of faith….to try what I did…and still do….to heal.
In the years since my own journey, the balance has shifted in this country—maybe one of the benefits of a flattening world. For instance, recently a scientific journal published some promising research studying a “folk remedy” used in Central America and Asia…. which shows potential for preventing or curing breast cancer.: Bitter Melon.
You gotta love the irony: Bitter— for cancer….Melon for breast.
Then again far stranger things happen. There’s so much about our bodies and our minds that we don’t understand. So much to see if we’re willing to open our eyes. I’m willing to believe in The Possibility of Everything. Are you?
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Just like the word “never”….
I have thrown that word out of my vocabulary…..
except for…..I will NEVER Sky Dive……Ha!
So many people say that as you get older you get set in your ways…
I think we, the Baby Boomers, don’t follow that adage at all…
We are more open to just about anything….the “possibility of everything”…..we were open to so much change in the 60’s….why
stop now?
I went from fish oil to the oil of fish livers and oil from other fishy organs that were said to help the retinas. First of all, taste-wise this is never going to replace a chocolate milkshake. Second, my eyes got better and what role did the fish play? I don’t know but when there was a chance that both eyes would fade to black in December, pass the sardine kidneys, please. I believed they would help and maybe that is all that counts. Perhaps we see it when we believe it. And from now on seeing will matter a lot more to me so I will be believing more and more as well.
Darryle, I’ve been a silent appreciator (sp?) of your writing lately, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog. You make it seem effortless, but Iit has to be a lot of hard work identify the little ironies–bitter + melon, and “When your options close down, it’s amazing how your mind can open up,” that make your blog so impactful and enjoyable.
I think our generation IS more open than our parents, but still not sure all baby boomers are as open as you are-
I also NEVER say NEVER…although not about sky diving—but that’s another story…..
Maybe you should also try carrots—It’s not exactly folk remedies, but our mom always told us fish was brain food, and carrots helped you see better. And I’ve never had eye trouble.
Seriously I agree that what we believe does make a difference. The more we learn about it, the more I think we’re only aware of a small part of what our brains are capable of.
Either that, or we really do need to eat more fish.
OMG Deborah thank you SO much for such a wonderful comment/and compliment! I really appreciate it.
As for the work, in theory a blog should be kind of like a journal. Only if I always did that, I’m not so sure you would EVER call it impactful OR enjoyable.
Honestly there are days when it truly is effortless.
Those days when I don’t post anything? Those are the days when it really feels like hard work.
Thank you again!
Darryle, what an amazing story. Coming from a similar New York/California combination, I would love to hear more. (I’ll have to read further into your blog!) My husband Uzi–who you read about in the book–just managed to heal from a life threatening infection using purely alternative therapies. It was both terrifying and extraordinary to witness. I still don’t know exactly how healers do what they do, but I am awed by some of their results. I am so glad that it worked as it did for you.
Hope, thanks so much for commenting here, and I”m glad to hear Uzi is well and healed–I feel I know him from reading the book. In fact I’ve been a fan of yours since I read your first book, Motherless Daughters. Losing our mothers at the same age in life is just one of the ways our lives have overlapped. Since we’re both California transplants, maybe sometime we’ll get to expand from meeting online to compare notes in person.