Nicole Skibola was 32 and a lawyer working in the New York start-up
world when she received a diagnosis for a rare endometrial cancer.
That surreal moment marked the beginning of a race to save eggs, to
operate, and to mourn the loss of her reproductive organs. Echoing the
urgency of diagnosis and treatment were the messages from everyone to
move on, be grateful, resettle into the person she was "before."
Loss begat losses: her boyfriend left her, her start-up failed, and
Nicole found herself in her childhood home, alone, and for the first
time was allowed to explore her grief. She joined a group of writers and
artists, many of whom were making art that dealt explicitly with grief
and loss. It was a revelation. After documenting her own story--and with
some inspiration from The Artist's Way--Nicole developed a framework
that supports people, especially those with cancer, to face, feel, and
express their own reality by connecting to their inner artist.