On view at MAD Arts from December 11th through the 28th — with an opening reception from 6 to 9 PM on Saturday, December 13th — this exhibition is a depiction of the daily mental struggles of someone with cancer. It doesn’t matter what type of cancer, what stage of cancer, or what age you are.
The day may start out calm. Then, suddenly, a storm begins to brew in your mind. Thunder, clouds, lightning, darkness: total upheaval. You feel unhinged. A million thoughts swirl through your head like a cyclone. Time races by, far too fast and far too uncontrollable.
You want it to stop, but you don’t know how to make it stop. What power do you have? You try to reason with it, but cancer is obstinate; most times, it does not listen to what you want. Nonetheless, you fight for control.
The storm eventually — finally — passes, leaving you in its wake of destruction. The thoughts, fears, and grievances begin to settle like so many dandelion seeds. But you notice these seeds settle in a pattern, forming all your thoughts into poems. Simple, basic, stream-of-consciousness poems.
With these poems and thoughts on paper, you feel at ease for the moment. And sometimes that moment is just enough to allow you to recover, gather your strength, and gear up for the next storm lurking on the horizon.
lynn behan was diagnosed with stage III cancer in July 2022. In October 2023, the cancer metastasized: welcome now to stage IV. As part of this journey, she wrote the book, the real feels of cancer, which was published by MAD Arts. An outlet for her to mentally navigate the emotions of cancer, the book was intended to let others know that it is OK not to be OK. That you will never be the person you were prior to diagnosis, and that too is OK. But you must always remember: it wasn’t your fault, you are allowed to have bad days along with the good days, and you must surround yourself with people who will allow you to be the new you. May these poems and this experience bring you some peace and contentment on your cancer journey.
Her poems express her sentiments, feelings, and the mind games of cancer chaos. These are the emotions she has been feeling for 3 years. Written in the wake of a Stage IV cancer diagnosis, it became an outlet for unshared complex feelings and truths that she felt could not be said out loud, but which needed to be expressed. Her collection captures the raw, everyday moments of living through the unimaginable, while still showing courage, unexpected joy in life’s little moments, and most of all, her hope for the future.
