Flashback Friday: A Return to the Boston College Campus for a "Last Lecture"

I had a moment in time in August of 2014 when I returned to the Boston College Campus for the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk to Benefit Prostate Cancer.

Last night I returned to the Boston College Campus again ....

Tom forwarded the email to me from Alpha Sigma Nu and the Center for Ignatian Spirituality:
Dear BC Community:
If granted the opportunity to give a last lecture, what would you say? What wisdom would you impart to the world if you knew this was your last chance? What would you want as your legacy?

The Last Lecture series invites faculty who, in different moments of their career, dare to reflect about their lives and respond to these questions.

This year, Professor Clare O'Connor of the Biology Department will present Genes, Love and Serendipity: A Biologist Reflects, where she will examine forces that direct the course of our lives.

"All of us inherited a 'blueprint' in our DNA, but DNA is only part of the story. The broader story of a career is a complex story that includes community, faith and serendipity."

We invite you to join Professor Clare O'Connor, Biology Department on Thursday, April 26, 5:30 - 6:30 PM in Gasson Hall 305 (The Debate Room).


I couldn't RSVP because I wasn't the original recipient of the email. Tom emailed the organizers mentioning that I am a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society. I received the honor during my final year in the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. One of the organizers, Adeline, said she would be delighted to have me attend.

Professor O'Connor wove together her professional and personal paths showing us the beautiful tapestry of her life guided by serendipity, love and choices she made.

It gave me pause to reflect on the serendipity and choices Tom and I have made that brought us to this moment in time.

Tom and I met on a blind date. One of my good friends, Mary Fitzpatrick and one of Tom's good friends, Marty said that we had to meet. This was before cell phones and Facebook. We took a chance and let serendipity lead the way. Here we are 41 years later, having just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career. I received my undergraduate degree in PR and Communications from Boston University. I worked at the BU Counseling Center as an Intake Coordinator and PR person. The director told me that I had a gift for interacting with the students and suggested that I pursue a career in counseling. I needed a fast track for a graduate degree and applied to Social Work schools. I opted for Boston College. One of my professors nominated me for induction into Alpha Sigma Nu for Scholarship, Loyalty and Service. What an honor!

It was quite remarkable to connect with the administrators for Alpha Sigma Nu on the BC campus last night and to feel the energy of academia remembering the wonderful education I received. One of the administrators, Adeline is going to add me to the email list for future events. Professor O'Connor emphasized the importance of community in our lives. While enjoying a post-lecture dinner at Oath Pizza, we reflected on how blessed we are to be a part of so many wonderful communities and connected to people who believe in doing good in the world.

After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, I took a leap of faith leaving my award winning 20 year career as a VA social worker to heal my life. I returned to my roots as a writer and followed my bliss in my new found gift as an inspirational poet.



Tom had many jobs in technology through the years and we both imagined the ideal next job for Tom that aligned with his values. Three years ago he was hired as a Systems Administrator at Boston College. It's 10 minutes from our home and he works with a wonderful team. A few minutes into the lecture, Tom mentioned to me that his boss, Mike, the Executive Vice President for IT walked in. Professor O'Connor brought together technology and science on the BC campus! I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Tom's boss and felt the circle of life surrounding us. Professor O'Connor beamed with pride when she shared with us that Mike gave her a jacket similar to the one Tom was wearing that had the insignia of the BC IT Department on it.

Life can be quite magical and elegant in the way the tapestry of our lives are woven. The Universe presents opportunities and we make choices and then, we connect the dots as we look back to see what we have co-created with the Divine.

To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):

Purpose

I love how the Divine sends me messages. My Facebook stream and a newsletter from Dr. Joe Dispenza contained a link to this article about What is the Purpose of Life?

I remember asking my father in one of his rare lucid and sober moments, "What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?" And he said that if you touch the life of at least one other person then you can feel that your life is a success.

I was so blessed during my tenure as a social worker at the VA to touch and help to transform many lives.

When I left the VA with a heavy heart I felt adrift of purpose in my life. I had grandiose ideas of being on Oprah for having had the courage to take a leap of faith and heal my life from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma and becoming a NY Times Bestselling author.

I know that my purpose was and has been to let others know what healing is possible when we love ourselves and our lives and be grateful for the blessings and the lessons that can come out of challenges. I know how many lives I have inspired and continue to inspire with my 2009 Boston Marathon run:


And going the distance for 3 Bermuda Half Marathons in as many years after being told I'd need a total knee replacement was a miracle for many to see and share.

During these past 11 years I was somewhat driven by trying to find my purpose. I must bring a lot of compassion to the choices I made that often times led me to connections with people that were not for my highest good in trying to find my passion and my purpose. I made choices blinded by feeling lost after leaving my career at the VA. I learned wonderful soul lessons and now realize that greatness often lies not in the roar of the lion but in quiet moments of love, kindness, compassion and care often hidden from the public eye.

I love meditating with Bernie Siegel's guided meditations. In one of the scenes he comments that "You realize you don't need applause."

Isn't that the Truth?

As I move forward in my journey, I realize that my Being here, with an emphasis on Being is my purpose. My purpose is to bring love, light, inspiration, beauty, kindness, compassion and a message of healing, hope and possibility to those who might be in need. I have no epic plans in my running journey. I plan to train right now just for the health of it continuing to build strength and continue to heal from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma. Through my dedication to health and wellness at 64 years old, and given all the challenges I have overcome, perhaps someone else may be inspired to pursue their own health and wellness journey.

I've been given a gift of writing and so I will put together my next book, "The Adventures of Runnergirl1953" and co author it with the Divine listening to what words I need to write to bring joy and inspiration to the world through sharing my journey.

I'll continue to have moments of still to discern the voice of the Divine and see where I can best serve and rather than trying to find my purpose, I'll allow my purpose to find me.


To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc. Be sure to visit us at Booth 758 during Boston Marathon Weekend.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):

Going the Distance: Transformation Tuesday - Writing the Next Chapters of My Life

I'm excited to write my next book, "The Adventures of Runnergirl1953." On our 10 mile training run in the rain, Tom and Ruth Anne asked me about how I am going to structure the book. I told them I was thinking about organizing the book by themes or using flashbacks and flash forwards to share the adventures of this runnergirl. It's a book that will focus on the magnificent sport of running, on faith, on quantum healing, strength, determination and the power of running and running as a metaphor for life. Unlike my "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility," and "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance," the focus will be much less on the events of my past and focus more on this miracle of healing and transformation in my life. Ruth Anne's miraculous recovery from severe depression and PTSD will be woven into the adventures as well.

While many of the chapters for my next book have been written, I am writing the story of Bermuda Half Marathon III in real time. I get to hold the pen and the power for how I want to write the story of training for and then running my third Bermuda Half Marathon.

I have a very powerful imagination and intention when it comes to my healing odyssey; healing from the effects of paralytic polio and severe childhood trauma that manifested as the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine standards in December of 2006. The mind/body connection has been demonstrated both in scientific research by such greats as Dr. Joe Dispenza and through case studies by Dr. Bernie Siegel.

My intentions and imagination were initially fired up with writing inspirational poetry. I still fire up my imagination holding my pen (well actually my mac laptop), my Diving rod for healing through my blog foreshadowing what I want to have happen next. Through my daily meditations, I continue to imagine healing in every cell of my body.

My passion and my purpose to be a beacon of hope to the world fuels my journey, along with my incredible and loving running village who have embraced me and my journey.

There is only room for success on the road to Bermuda Half Marathon III. I'm very excited to be writing these next chapters of my life!



Go the distance with strength and courage,
Mary

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):

Words to Heal By - "Never Lose Hope"

When Jordan Rich asked me what helped me on my healing journey when I was interviewed on his show last week, he said "Well of course you had your writing." It was words and writing poetry that opened my door to healing shortly after being diagnosed with post polio syndrome in December 2006.

It is words that continue to help me heal.

I was introduced to the work of Bernie Siegel, MD by Beth Jordan, an earth angel of a nurse in the 1980's when hospitalized for over 6 weeks with an infection in my shoulder. She told me about his work. Tom and I went to hear him speak at Harvard and he has been my "chosen dad" and labor coach through the years guiding me throughout my healing journey. I encourage you to take a few moments and read his article "Deceiving People Into Health." It was through Bernie sharing a story about how his son strung together wordswordswords in an art project with no space between them that I realized how words can heal or words can become swords.

I am mindful of my choice of words and notice how they have the power to change what is happening in my body. While I worked very hard in outpatient treatment at Spaulding Rehab following my initial diagnosis of post polio syndrome, I was also writing poems about gratitude, health, wholeness and feeling joy, feeling alive in my body. Perhaps the most powerful testament to words to heal by was that in the first poem I wrote after the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, I visualized running a race! Imagine that - I was in a leg brace, using a wheelchair at times for mobility and feeling the worst I had ever felt in my life, mind, body and Spirit, but writing the poem Running the Race - the power of those words - helped to pierce the darkness and gave me a sense of hope. As Bernie often says, quoting Jung, "The unconscious prepares the way for the future," although at the time I had no idea I would go on to run the 2009 Boston Marathon.

If I'm feeling stressed and anxious (that also means I am not living in the present moment), I say the words peace and equanimity over and over again or be here now and I can feel my body let go of the tension. I break the cycle of looping where thoughts create bodily sensations and those bodily sensations fuel the thoughts that keep me feeling stressed and anxious, by using healing words.

Recently I have been focusing on ease and lightness and wrote this poem:

Lightness and Ease

Be light
delight
beneath darkness
worry
doom and gloom
Spirit waits in the wings
by your side
eager to please
deliver you to this luscious
spacious place
of ease
of peace
only a breath away

Freedom.

From the age of 5 years old, I have known struggle and challenges. Being rejected, neglected and abandoned by my mother after contracting paralytic polio and being cared for by my dad and grandfather who, God bless them, tried to do their best but were not deeply nurturing, loving and caring men, left me feeling a sense of heaviness in my body. Paralysis will also do that to you. My body was a burden. Wearing a full, long metal leg brace for years and then needing a full length cast on my right leg for 6 weeks at the age of 11; numerous (over 25) surgeries including reconstructive leg surgery and hardware removal added to this feeling of heaviness. And then there was violence....

But now I choose to focus on ease and lightness. These are my words to heal by. With the combination of Aquatics Therapy at Spaulding Rehab and weekly treatments with Joseph at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork, there are moments when I feel balance, ease and lightness in my body and feel as though nothing ever happened to me. I imprint those moments and then let everything be as it is. And I never lose hope no matter what may be going on in my body. I know that every day, every moment is an opportunity for me to harness the power of words to heal by and let all of my helpers, seen and unseen continue to help me heal.

Thank you to Jordan for a wonderful interview and for playing this inspirational song at the close of my interview:




The first 7 years of my healing odyssey are chronicled in my memoir:

"Wait, I have one more goal," Mary McManus told her personal trainer in February of 2008 shortly after coming out of her toe up leg brace. "I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital." Mary traded in her polio shoes for running shoes and embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Mary McManus was at the height of her career as a VA social worker when she was told by her team at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s International Rehab Center for Polio in December of 2006 that she needed to quit her job if she had any hope of preventing the progression of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. In “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility” Mary takes you on her seven year healing odyssey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma from her diagnosis, to taking a leap of faith to leave her award winning career at the VA to heal her life and follow her passion as a poet and writer. You’ll experience her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she trains for and crosses the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and discovers the opportunity for healing in the wake of new trauma: the suicide of her nephew in 2011, and the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. This is Mary's journey of coming home to her human form free from the influences of the ghastly ghostly invaders who had invaded her sacred earthly home. Her memoir includes journals and blog posts from her seven year healing odyssey. This is her journey of transformation and her message of healing, hope and possibility.

I donate 50% of royalty payments through on line sales at Amazon to The One Fund to help Boston Marathon survivors and their families. Copies are also available at Brookline Marathon Sports. $5 of each book sold at Marathon Sports is donated to The One Fund.