A few months ago, I got the kind of email none of us ever want to receive.
**in a rush and don’t have time for a story? Next week I’m running my FIRST EVER (and maybe last???) storytelling workshop that’s open to the public. Wanna come? Sign up HERE**
I opened my inbox to see that my beloved friend Karen Ward (and mentor, I’ve learned SO much from her) wrote to me to say, “I have cancer.” Ugh.
Endometrial. Early stage and treatable, thank the GODS, but still requires major surgery and also radiation. OOF. On top of this, she’d just been through six months of Long COVID. Like me, she works for herself, so the financial worry is no joke. I immediately messaged her on whatsapp:
“I know everyone says, ‘if there’s anything I can do’, but if there IS anything I can do, please tell me.”
She and I don’t live close enough for me to go round her house with meals or hugs. She said,
“Just send a support pony when you can.”
She was kidding, but I immediately ordered her this one.
I also offered to run her a GoFundMe. She was a little reluctant to do one at first, until a few of us convinced her, “Karen, you are ABSURDLY generous. Maybe it’s time to just… receive..?”
Eventually she capitulated and let me and our friend Sara Smeaton run it. But I suspect something about her not HAVING to be involved opened up her creative brain and, while she was away from the admin part, she came up with what I think is one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard.
You know how people have baby and wedding showers? Karen was noodling on the fact that we somehow are fine to ask our friends for money when we’re experiencing those big high milestones. But when it comes to injury and illness, it feels so much harder.
Why???? it’s SO effed!!! And actually, people LOVE to help people they love. So she came up with this idea:
Sara and I are throwing Karen a….
CANCER SHOWER!!!!
It has a theme (Superpower), it has no location (it’s online so anyone can join in) and instead of awkward games, we have workshops to help you unlock your superpowers. Five in total, but if you can’t make them (or you missed one), you can listen to the recording (that’s what I did for the first two, they were both INCREDIBLE!).
Next week, I’m running my workshop to help you unlock the superpower of CHARISMA:
Tell Captivating Stories: The Workshop
It’s PWYC. 90 mins long. There are a lot of jokes (OF COURSE) but also, it’s very practical — you’ll leave having ALREADY worked on a story. And, before you panic, I choose the story for you (I intentionally choose something super-boring to show you that it’s not WHAT you tell, it’s HOW you tell it).
There are also four other workshops, which are on: building your intuition (so you can make better decisions and be more creative); building resilience and reducing stress (using something that’s like meditation on steroids — it works after ONE session); understand how to keep your team motivated (even in an isht-storm); and DECLUTTERING (who doesn’t need that???).
Wanna come to one or all of those?? And get the recordings for the ones you can’t make???
Alllll you have to do is donate to Karen’s SUPERPOWER CANCER SHOWER, here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-help-karen-kick-cancers-butt
(yes, the slug says “butt”, no, we didn’t realise we can change it, yes, it makes us laugh and cringe every time we post it)
Literally everyone I’ve told about this idea has WIGGED OUT. From my activist friends to my very non-activist friends, cancer survivors to people barely touched by it. And I think that they all love the idea for two reasons:
1) Because it’s subversive. Showers are so sparkly and cutesey and YAY! and cancer… traditionally not those things. And
2) Because we can ALL relate. Both to the feeling of shame around asking for help (eSPEcially financial help, I mean, my GODS), and to the feeling of “hang on.. haven’t I given a SHEDLOAD of time/energy/cash to other people’s weddings/baby showers etc? Like, isn’t it OK to at least ask for some parity in that..?”
Also, people love great workshops. And this is your reminder that I have LITERALLY never done a public storytelling workshop before, and I don’t know that i will again in a hurry. Not because it’s some big secret I only want to keep for the corporates, the non-profits and the conferences. Just because the marketing involved having to sell places in a workshop is just not worth it for the money I’d get back.
SO, if you want to come and experience my storytelling workshop, then YOU ARE IN LUCK! If you want to be there live, it’s next Tues. But you can also listen to the recording, and it’ll still be VERY useful if you want to tell better stories than you do just now.
Just donate what you can to the GoFundMe (we’re saying “suggested $50” but really, whatever you can donate is amazing, less or more) and you’ll get sent the details by the end of the day:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-help-karen-kick-cancers-butt
Any questions about any of this? Drop me a line to hello@yesyesmarsha.com
You rule!
xx (Yes Yes) Marsha
PS for the skimmers, here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-help-karen-kick-cancers-butt
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