A friend is doing a sermon on selfie’s and exploring the role of selfies under various contexts. Scott and I took selfie’s throughout out Going East journey (before everyone had Smartphones and it became trendy). We did it because it was a fun way to say “we were here” without leaving an impact on the places we visited. I would love to have included a selfie of us at Palmyra Syria, but it appears we didn’t take one. So here is one of us at the monastery at Petra, Jordan. The picture actually make the monastery look small – so I’m including a second one that has me standing right next to the monastery so you get a sense of scale.

When we first decided to explore Stanford for treatment, it occurred to me that I wanted a series of pictures of me, taken at the same place, every time we go. I wanted a nice tree behind me, but we couldn’t easily find one near the cancer center. We will need to look a little further, as there are a bunch of giant Eucalyptus trees, which seem to be constantly shedding their bark. There is something symbolic in that, as the trees shed their bark I shall be shedding my hair.  When all this is over, I shall have a time lapsed video that shows a series of pictures of me as I progress through this process. It is both evidence and testimonial to my journey.

Right now, I’m taking lots of pictures of myself – actually I’m having Scott take pictures of me. If I don’t make it, I want there to be lots of happy pictures of me. I also want my family and friends to see that I am doing well right now. I am strong, and I want to show it through pictures. I may need the pictures when I’m going through treatment, to remind myself where I was before this began, and where I want to come back to.