Life Elevated

Yesterday l was driving near the Utah /Arizona border towards Lake Powell. As I crossed back over Utah's state line I read their welcome sign and their motto is "Life Elevated". I imagine this refers to the high elevation and the peaks and buttes. For me, it took on a different meaning. The thing that came to mind was elevated thinking. This week while surrounded by such beauty I have been very reflective on my life and purpose. Last Saturday I moderated a session at OMG called "Are you there God? It's me cancer". While I think the session could have gone better we talked about a greater purpose in life.

Over the past few years I have questioned my purpose and lessons learned from my journey with cancer. Life was not perfect before cancer and while some good things have come from my cancer experience, on a whole it sucked. It makes me angry that all the attendees at OMG are effected by cancer in some way. One of the comforting thoughts is that maybe some of the 550 people in that theater last weekend were touched, inspired and maybe instilled with a little bit of hope. I pray that those that arrived in Vegas for the Summit feeling alone left with a sense of kinship with their fellow attendees and formed new friendships to rely on throughout the rest of their journey with this horrible disease.

There have been times since I got cancer that I felt alone, felt that no one else could possibly have gone through the same shit. I no longer feel that way. What is amazing to me is while I have been on this solo trek this past week I have not felt alone or even lonely. So many people have been following my Facebook updates, my tweets and blog posts that I know that many are traveling with me, if only in spirit. Everyday I have heard from friends, old and new that have wanted to know how it is going and to give me their support.

Each day last weekend I wore an Allipalooza sticker and handed them out to fellow attendees. I shamelessly talked about my upcoming trip and by the end of the weekend people where asking me for stickers. I have pictures with people proudly displaying my logo on their shirts, bags and other possible surfaces. I don't think it was the design or tag line on the stickers that made people want one, but the meaning behind Allipalooza. I think everyone should have their own "palooza". A time of of celebration, challenge and discovery. As I write this post Allipalooza - Southwest is not over, but it has certainly given be a sense of "Life Elevated".

Ok, that is enough contemplation for the day. It is time to explore the Grand Canyon.