Joy Is a Plum Colored Acrobat: 45 Life-Affirming Visualizations for Breast Cancer Treatment and Recovery - Hardcover

Burton, Wendy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1400054796 ISBN 13: 9781400054794

Publisher: Crown Archetype, 2004

Synopsis

A few years ago, Wendy Burton was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shortly after her diagnosis, she happened upon some extremely positive and life-saving guidance from a tape of visualizations that led her down a whole new creative path. Her imaginings of tiny Cirque du Soleil acrobats leaping lightly through her breast ducts, with brightly colored beach umbrellas protecting her good cells as little chimney sweeps scurried through and swept away all of the cancerous cells, were so helpful for her throughout the process that she had to write them down and began sharing them with friends who were struggling with their own diagnoses. After months of searching, Wendy found an extraordinary artist in Italy whose work is vivid, lively, and just surreal enough to perfectly complement Wendy’s visualizations.

The result is Joy Is a Plum Colored Acrobat, the first breast cancer companion that is so uplifting and so lovely, it is a dream come true for all women diagnosed with breast cancer, and for those who love them and want to give them a beautiful package of hope. In forty-five beautifully crafted visualizations, Wendy Burton transforms the feelings of fear and powerlessness that accompany a diagnosis of breast cancer into a delightful and nourishing journey of the imagination. Positive and practical, with vibrant four-color illustrations throughout, Joy Is a Plum Colored Acrobat is an inspiring, helpful, and nonintrusive gift for women about to undergo treatment, and an indispensable guide for the journey.

About this title

About the Author

Wendy Burton has worked in the publishing industry for twenty-seven years, both in Northern California and in New York City. She is a photographer, designer, and freelance literary agent specializing in illustrated books. She lives in Red Hook, New York, with her husband. Joy Is a Plum Colored Acrobat is her first book.

Reviews

In her introduction, freelance literary agent and book designer Burton explains that studies, which she never actually cites, have proven visualizations can positively impact a person's health. She claims that letting her imagination run wild while in a deep state of relaxation made her own bout with breast cancer brief, easy and, oddly enough, "a joy." In this gift book for women who've been diagnosed with breast cancer, she advises readers to engage in any one of 45 different visualization exercises either before, during or after their treatments. Many of the scenarios involve motifs of umbrellas that shield healthy cells from a chemical rain while the cancer cells are killed; circus acrobats that push diseased cells out of the body as they jump and tumble; and honey that coats healthy breast tissue. Contemporary, eye-catching illustrations accompany each visualization to help provoke the reader's imagination. Some of Burton's suggestions, such as envisioning a space ship flying through breast ducts, may be unappealing for women in a sterile and cold hospital environment. But others, such as imagining oneself atop a 12,000-foot mountain, with green and rust lichen on the rocks beneath one's feet, will provide women with a supportive structure for coping with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. 40 color illus.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Crown Archetype
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1400054796
• ISBN 13: 9781400054794
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128