Creative Arts Are Complementary Therapies

Ben Tousley, Folksinger/Songwriter
& 11 Year Survivor of Hodgkin’s Disease

Ben Tousley was working professionally as a folksinger for many years before he was diagnosed with cancer. During and immediately after his treatments for Hodgkin’s disease in 1992, Ben knew he needed to find a way to cope with the psychological and spiritual challenges he faced. Though his treatment for the disease was successful––he still had to come to terms with his evolving identity as a cancer survivor. This meant learning how to cope with a whole new set of stresses like the fear of recurrence and the sharpened sense of mortality that are the inevitable results of any battle with cancer.
Fortunately, based on his previous artistic experience, Ben understood the therapeutic value of tapping into the creative process. As this gifted story-teller/musician wrote songs about his experiences with cancer, music became an important vehicle in his journey toward healing.
A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Ben currently teaches courses about coping with illness and bereavement at Springfield College. He is also the director of Life Story Music and Groups. You can hear Ben’s moving songs about his treatment and survivorship on his latest CD, Open the Gates. Close your eyes, listen, and be inspired by this artist’s voice and vision. And if you would like Ben to conduct a life story group or workshop––or to perform in concert for your organization or church––he can be reached at:
38 Campbell St., Woburn, MA 01801 (781-933-0807) or btousley@concentric.net. Making a heart to heart connection with Ben Tousley will definitely help you connect with your own healing process.

Maria Judge, Writer/Photographer/Humorist
& 6 Year Survivor of Breast Cancer

Enjoy this photo and caption from Maria’s wonderful essay: When I met Margaret Thatcher, I thought to myself, “I doubt I’m tougher than England’s former prime minister, but she’s definitely having a better hair day than me!”

When Maria Judge was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, a friend said to her “You’re a writer. You’re bound to get a book out of this.” Maria had already begun to keep a journal which she expected would be a private, hopeful record of her treatment and recovery. But early on she began to think of the experience in visual terms. “I realized that scenes I described in the journal would make great pictures, so I decided to take those pictures. I brought my camera to my first chemo treatment and the doctors and nurses got a big kick out of my finding photo opportunities in my many medical appointments.”

Maria found that taking pictures of these routines shifted the focus away from the disease itself and onto the human story behind it. It allowed other things to come through: humor, irony, insight, demystification, manageability. She began to show the pictures to other people and got such a positive reaction, that she realized that this was not a story to be kept to herself. It had to be shared. So she wove the public pictures and the private journal together into a photo exhibit, which she called “Toxic, Tattooed and Tougher than Margaret Thatcher: Chronicle of a Year with Cancer.” The title was inspired by Britain’s own Iron Lady, to whom she was compared by her boss. He assured her she was going to beat cancer since she was “tougher than Margaret Thatcher.” Ironically, Maria met Margaret Thatcher a few months into treatment, and the picture of their meeting is included in the exhibit.

Since it opened in April 1998 “Toxic, Tattooed” has had over 35 showings across the country, and has been seen by thousands of people in exhibitions, through Maria’s presentations, and on her website at www.mariajudge.com. Today Maria is healthy, busy with her writing and storytelling, and is happy to present her story of survival wherever it can help others facing life’s challenges.

Marsha Metzger, Yoga/ DansKinetics Instructor
& 27 Year Survivor of Ewing's Sarcoma

When she was five years old, Marsha Metzger dreamed of being a ballerina. She “danced like crazy” and loved to perform for her family. Her childhood dream was shattered at age 5 when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in her left leg. After a difficult surgery and many radiation treatments, Marsha suffered extensive muscle damage and was left with one leg shorter than the other. Still, this determined child didn’t lose her desire to dance. She continued to take ballet and even added gymnastics to her after-school activities.

Unfortunately, at age 13, Marsha’s tumor returned. Her leg had to be amputated below the knee and she required more chemotherapy. At first, the young teenager talked herself into believing that the loss of her leg would actually improve her situation. At the very least, she thought her new prosthesis would make her legs the same length. Instead, her prosthesis was barely unusable–– and though she continued to walk two miles each day and work on her abs–– Marsha stopped dancing....

Many careers and years later, at age 29, Marsha began the process of confronting and coming to terms with her illness and its aftermath. She was profoundly depressed and knew that she had to find a way to express herself creatively and rediscover the joy that she felt through dance and movement. Fitted with a new prosthesis, she began to study yoga and danskinetics at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachusetts.

As a result of her great courage and determination, Marsha has become a certified Kripalu Yoga and DansKinetics teacher. She is the founder and director of Endless Possibilities Yoga and Dance in Wenham, Massachusetts where her classes are a testament to resilience, possibility and survivorship. Though she still struggles with the side effects of treatment–– Marsha believes that the expression of creativity through dance and movement, has helped her access her sense of joy, health and well being. She enjoys doing workshops for other cancer survivors and amputees who would like to explore yoga and dance as part of their healing process.

If you would like to find out more about Marsha’s studio, classes, etc., check out her website yogaom.com or phone her at 978-468-7683, ext. 2. Namaste!