Issue 9: The Supporters Issue – Winter 2021

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

There is no stronger nor more important word in my vocabulary today than “community.” From our humble beginnings only a few short years ago, the concept of fostering a radically nurturing environment for what we have named the New Cancer Community has been paramount.

If there is one crucial requisite for creating, nurturing or simply being a part of our community, it is participation and communication. In this issue, you will find beautiful examples of people just like you and me who are redefining what it means to “show up” and participate. They are doing it in the now, in the present, in technicolor. Featured contributor Ana Fernatt is an edgy example of a self-aware communicator whose story on Hilaire Lockwood highlights today’s new breed of community builders.

This type of “all in” participation requires willingness to be vulnerable. In “Going Flat,” the first collection of our new, beautifully crafted cW portrait series, resident photographer Sarah Bell captures six women in their post-mastectomy bodies. Their vulnerability is empowering and mesmerizing. Allyn Rose, the former beauty queen turned speaker and mother-to-be, has inspired a cult following in our community because of her willingness to show up and bare it all. On Instagram, she has shared everything from her challenges with fertility to instructions on performing your own self breast exam, and her willingness to do so is helping shine a brilliant spotlight on previvorship and prevention. Photographer Peter Mueller captured her essence beautifully on location in Frankfurt, Germany.

With a bright new year ahead of us, it is a pleasure to showcase the beauty and depth of these tremendous leaders in our community. For all of those featured in this outstanding issue: thank you for showing up, thank you for being vulnerable and, most of all, thank you for nurturing our souls with your stories. Happy New Year!