About

Who I am, is not represented by my name, (past or present) occupation, family structure or age or gender. Since my childhood I’ve been aware that part of life is about health and disease and avoiding doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals if at all possible. That means a departure from the straight and wide highway, which one, for the sake of ease and simplicity or for lack of awareness and confidence that a winding, rough path through unknown territory can be even more rewarding, is tempted to choose. If anything, it offers countless opportunities for positive change, albeit that it mostly requires hard work and perseverance. Right, that’s easily said, and I have the ‘blessing’ that my ailment is chronic. With an acute disease, the story would have been significantly different. I’m truly grateful for the time given me.

Why I’m publishing this:

What I experienced and learned form dealing with, and accepting what most people would label as a serious, life-threatening disease, has changed my life in a significant way, not to mention the impact it had, and still has, on the lives of my dear ones. My aim is not to just get things off my chest by committing my thoughts to writing, I also sincerely wish they will offer inspiration, knowledge and courage to all who are dealing with (serious) health issues or wish to maintain and enhance healthy and happy living, for themselves and people dear to them.

>> Please note: I am not a professional health specialist or care-giver; everything I publish here is a reflection of my own beliefs, concepts and knowledge, gained through experience and on-going study, research and the input, inspiration and support of a handful of dedicated care-givers in the field of natural healing. I urge you to digest and reflect upon what I present you, and embark on your own path towards healing, health, happiness and well-being for yourself, others and our planet as a whole…<<

I was diagnosed with a chroninc disease (dis-ease) in September 2014. I’m celebrating 6 years of survival without invasive or toxic treatments. It wasn’t easy, dealing with my own fear (fed by the ‘objective’ advice given me by specialists at every visit) and dealing with the fear-driven admonishings by my dear ones, especilly by my partner with whom I had had a 31-year long family friendship. This friendship transformed to a partner relationship after her lifelong husband suddenly and unexpectedly died.

From then on, life took quite a turn. The last three years of my working life lay ahead, the care for my home, my children and my health called for revision; priorities shifted gradually. Once the choice was made to shift conventional medical care (treating the symptoms, not the patient) to the background in favour of chosing restoration of health and prevention of (further) illness, I found myself on a long and often lonely road. Reactivating prior knowledge of natural healing and healthy livng, along with gathering new information on health and illness, proved to be a full-time job if it were to be done consciensciously and effectively. I’m not the type who thrives on two almost full-time jobs, so retirement proved to be a blessing. Of course, an even greater blessing is the ‘gift’ of a chronic ailment instead of an acute one – most importantly, it bought me time, so I could more easily resist the temptation, fired by conventional specialists, to act quickly – the sooner the better – and commit to aggressive symptom-bombarding.

All in all, I still cringe at the phrase “The fight against cancer” – this implies that the disease is some kind of external invader that needs to be eradicated, in a holy war to ‘cure’ afflicted people and protect future generations from the plight, the very name of which strikes many people with a range of emotions, varying from fear of getting it oneself, repulsion at the thought of a friend, acquaintance or dear one being diagnosed, to awkward facial expressions and words and intonations of sympathy, with voiced or muted questions like “what is the prognosis?”.

So, if cancer is not something to be fought or eradicated, what is it then?

For me, it an opportunity for healing, a very urgent wake-up call that radical changes are needed – from within, not from outside, although, like everything we take in, not only air, water and nutrition, also toxins and pollutants, comes from our environment, and on an energy level, from the non-material aspects of life we give to, and take from people, animals and plants we come into contact with.

There is no such thing as (static) health or disease … rather, the two are engaged in a constant dance, where the leader and the follower alternate roles, depending on the tune and the rhythm of the music and the quality of their interaction. [ph]

Topics I intend to write about:

• The health-wealth Dilemma

• Limitations of specialisation

• Mind, brain and body

• Knowledge and intuition

• Fact and fiction

• The changing face of food

• Food versus nutrition

• Profit, honesty and financial interests

• Scarcity versus abundance

• Fear or trust? [reciprocity]