Walking Together: How Pinksocks Are Inspiring Compassion and Connection in Cancer Care
The charm of pinksocks lies in their ability to cultivate genuine connections.
Yesterday I was looking back through my tweets to try to find a burner whom I met at this year’s Exponential Medicine conference. I met her briefly and I thought I had tweeted something that had her handle in the tweet, but I wasn’t able to find it. It was Kirk Borne‘s tweet that made me think about her, because she was one of the artists who helped build that funky raygun gothic spaceship that’s in the meme. You may have seen the spaceship either on the playa in 2009 or on exhibit at the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The spaceship has a classic burningman story to it. The camp that built and brought the spaceship to the playa that year circulated and fueled the story that they would be launching the spaceship one night during the week. So, at the designated time, tons of burners showed up to countdown the spaceship’s launch…..really expecting it to launch. There was a massive fireworks show…..but no lift off. It was all just for fun! Classic!
As I scrolled thru my tweet history looking for this woman so I could ping her in Kirk’s tweet, I was struck by a couple of things. One, I have a lot of tweets in my history! Two, I have A LOT of pictures of happy smiling people in pinksocks in my feed! And, it’s the second one for which I’m grateful! There’s so much focus on negative news going on right now…..that it was nice to just sit with a steady stream of happiness for awhile as I scrolled through my tweet history.
There are literally thousands of pinksocks tribe members around the world at this point and we’re growing! From all across the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand it’s so nice to see everyone’s happy pictures as they come through my Twitter feed! Thank you! It’s all about connecting and celebrating each other’s moments. Seeing how each person is making a difference in their organization. GSD! Watching the patient experience voice grow and grow. Witnessing people coming together as one…..sometimes even if it’s just for a picture at a conference. Getting along…..it’s doable! We got this!
Don’t forget the moment someone gave you your pinksocks. You looked at each other and saw yourselves smiling. That! It keeps happening each time you wear your pinksocks. You will make someone smile…..don’t miss that moment to connect and share space with someone new, that had you not have worn your pinksocks that day, you would have missed each other in the universe. The spaceship, it never really was about the launch. It was about people coming together to celebrate. It was about the shared story. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories every day!
The charm of pinksocks lies in their ability to cultivate genuine connections.
…you being you has extraordinary power! Use it for good.
Moments like these are a testament to the
profound influence and love a mother holds in her child’s heart.
Then Ms. Reynolds looked at me and said “we’re changing the world.” And, I replied with gratitude, “yes, you are.”