Posts tagged ‘sharinghope.tv’
Did smoking get cool again when I wasn’t looking?
When I stumbled across this picture on the sharinghope.tv ”quitting smoking” channel , I was hoping to see a quit-smoking success story. I can never resist a person who smiles with his whole face. Sadly, this man died as a result of lung cancer. His son, known on sharinghope.tv as melhale2002, posted the picture in remembrance of his father and to remind others of the devastating effects of smoking.
I’m still on an anti-smoking kick from last week for two reasons. One, the Great American Smoke Out is only two months away and it would be awesome to see some homemade stop-smoking videos on Sharinghope.tv.
And Two? I just came back from a wedding where I watched a high percentage of twenty-something college grads duck out of the ballroom every 20 minutes or so to grab a cigarette. UGH!
Is smoking on the rise again? Are we not doing enough to convince our youth that smoking can KILL?
I lost two grandfathers because of smoking and they were only in their 50s. My sister and I used to call grandad Darth Vader because his emphasyema caused his breathing to sound just like the Star Wars villian. What I remember most of my other grandfather was the smell of his pipe. Lung cancer whittled away at his 6’2″ frame, killing him when I was just five.
I know smoking is one of the toughest habits to break, but why are so many still starting?
Share Your Creative Side on SharingHope.tv
SharingHope.tv isn’t all about video. Members like Cori Riley use the photo upload feature exclusively to share artwork and poetry. Here’s what she has to say about her 2008 Relay experience:
A Note to WordPress Users about Embedding SharingHope.tv Videos
If you’ve tried embedding your SharingHope.tv videos into a free WordPress blog, you’ve probably gotten a SharingHope.tv frame, but no video. There is a fix. Vodpod is a free service that makes it easy for you share and embed videos across a variety of video-sharing sites. The site allows you to install a button to your browser window, so that whenever you come across a video you’d like to share on your blog, you click the button and it will automatically post the video to your blog with text and a title of your choosing. If you need more help, Vodpod has a great FAQ page.
submitted by sharinghope.tv member, Mississippi
Tips: Once you use vodpod to post, you can go back and edit your WordPress post with links and tags. It works well to link to your actual SharingHope.tv video page in the body of your post, as your video will not have the colorful SharingHope.tv box surrounding it. Someday, we’ll find a way to put the box back, but in the meantime, it’s important to us that you are able to share your SharingHope.tv videos with the rest of the online cancer community.
If you aren’t a WordPress user, but share and use video across a number of video sites (sharinghope.tv, youtube, etc.) , you might also find Vodpod a useful way to keep track.
According to Vodpod, there are over 5000 video sharing sites on the Internet! They’ve published their top 100 most popular sharing sites. Let’s put SharingHope.tv on their next list of the top 100 video sharing websites!
Father and Son Share Hope, and DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE PHOTO CONTEST!
This inspiring Relay for Life photo from SharingHope.tv member, Kerry depicts Kerry and his son, both survivors of the same cancer. Thanks Kerry for sharing hope!
There’s still time to participate in the Relay for Life/Sharinghope.tv photo contest, which ends August 10th.
Cancer survivor singlespeeds for healing, and encourages others to do same
So, I’m outta shape. I’ve got three kids and not a whole lot of time on my hands, hate gyms, and… oh… a billion other excuses. Looking at this video by 1speeder, I suddenly crave a bike, a pebbled, snow-dusted path, and a meandering afternoon. (Of course, I’d need better leg muscles too, but dream with me please.) 1speeder says his goal is to inspire other cancer survivors to ride, since he credits singlespeeding with helping him through a chemo resistant form of Hodgkins Lymphoma. This video takes place just 95 days after his bone-marrow transplant!
I know many of you are sharing hope on personal blogs and sites like YouTube. Please remember that you can keep the accounts you already have AND upload to SharingHope.tv too. It’s an extra step, but it will bring your inspiring words, photos, and video directly to the people in the cancer community who need the encouragement. If you have any questions, please see the tutorials or comment here.
Sitting with Death and Celebrations of Life
A friend and I were sitting in a coffee shop planning for an upcoming Grandparent’s Day at our kids’ school. I knew she had terminal cancer, but she looked okay, healthy even. As we were about to move on to the topic of invitations, she looked at me and said:
I think about death a lot.
Most of us don’t sit well with death, and I am no exception. When my friend confronted me with the D-word, I squirmed, mumbled something about praying for her, asked what night she wanted me to bring a casserole, then hurriedly wrapped up our meeting. She died a year later.
When I started this blog for SharingHope.tv, I knew sooner or later I’d have to deal with the topic of death. I’m picking sooner because I don’t want readers to get the impression that SharingHope is only about surviving. We all know that no matter how hard people pray or fight or maintain a positive attitude, some still die from cancer.
And many people who die, or are dying, share hope. Like my friend, Peter Attwell, who asked everyone at his memorial service to wear bright, happy colors in celebration of his life. And what a life to celebrate! I know dozens of people who live differently, who love more and give more, because they knew Peter.
I’ve also been reading blogs written by terminal patients and their caretakers who share hope by speaking openly and honestly about subjects most people avoid. How many cancer patients and caretakers now feel less alone because of them? I’m thinking of one mom who told me that doctors wanted to put her on antidepressants because “she didn’t seem sad enough” about her daughter’s cancer, and was obviously having “detachment issues.” In reality, she was a joy-filled person maintaining a positive attitude for her child, but even her doctors thought hope should have its limits.
I’m sure this woman would find comfort in Sarah’s post about wanting to share the joy that is her her son even while he is so sick. She writes:
In the years since my friend died, I’ve replayed our time in that coffee shop over and over. In my new scenario, I listen as she talks of her fears about about missing so much of her daughters’ lives, her choice of music for her memorial service, the scrapbooks she is making for her two girls, and the hope she has for their futures. I. Just. Sit.
I’ve added another category in this blog called Celebrations of Life. It will be dedicated to your stories of deceased loved-ones who shared hope.
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN shares the news about SharingHope.
We are so appreciative when mainstream media outlets spread the news about SharingHope.tv, so we want to give a shout out to KXAN for their report which aired tonight at 5pm. David Scott’s piece did a great job of explaining how having access to individual stories about life with cancer spreads hope to those struggling with a recent diagnosis or undergoing treatment.
Click here to watch KXAN’s report. The link does take a minute or two to load.
We heart Annie (and her little dog too!)
Annie’s videos about her cancer experience are some of our most watched, and have been featured on news broadcasts in mainstream media outlets. She embodies the SharingHope.tv spirit and we send her our warmest thoughts as she continues her journey as a cancer survivor.
Thanks, Annie, for your contributions to SharingHope.
Be a citizen jounalist at events like Relay for Life!
We’d love your photos and videos to celebrate our vibrant volunteer community. Watch this video for ideas. Oh, and don’t forget to enter SharingHope.tv’s contest to win a Flip video camera!
