Living Smart continues this Sunday November 4th at 3pm with Sehba Sarwar of Voices Breaking Boundaries. In my 20 years doing television features, I find the people who do the most work are the most passionate. Sehba is quite driven and she has chosen to work with children and bring the best out of them. She is one of the quiet/yet loud heroes I get to feature on Living Smart.
A few days ago I had to talk to a group of women at MD Anderson hospital. Strangely enough, my father was getting his six month cancer check up the same day and my mom who was actually pregnant with me when she worked at MD Anderson 4 decades ago, came with me. I had chosen to speak about the joy of living because I have a poster in my office that reminds me to enjoy the joy of life (La Joie de Vivre)every day.
I enjoyed telling women what brings me joy but I also felt I needed to be honest and share that suffering is part of life too and that despite all the challenges we face in life, particularly at our age, we must still soldier on and work hard to be happy but most importantly to find "meaning" in life. What is contradictory in my life is that to find meaning I have had to suffer. The more pain I have felt in my life, the more I appreciate what makes me happy. I no longer take for granted that my mother is alive for instance. Why? Well, after sitting 15 hour days for 3 weeks next to her while she was in a coma, I have learned that every time I see her now, I am so grateful to God for giving her back to me. I feel great joy when I think about it.
Yesterday after the speech which ended with my favorite song. (I sang La Vie En Rose) I went over to the next building and found out that my dad's cancer had come back. I am very sad as I write this but it also brings me great joy that I have such strong faith in god and the power of prayer and the love of family and friends that I feel peace.
Like many Americans, I feel a lot of stress, so I have chosen to start spending more time relaxing, meditating and praying. I have for now quit playing music. My last concert will be Saturday November 10th at the Artery. I don't know if I will every play again. I do hope I will but for now, my mind, my soul and my voice will take a break. You should consider doing the same and finding out what brings you joy. Then repeating that activity as much as you can!
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