This summer YCT! Founder Luana DeAngelis & YCT! Program Director, Eileen Moran had the opportunity to have a chat with the iconic actress & activist Fran Drescher about cancer, life & the interconnectedness of it all. Read below for some beautiful insights from our friend, Fran and let it brighten your day.
We asked Fran about some of the lessons she has learned by being a cancer survivor and he's what she said:
“So many people say, “heal the planet heal yourself” but it’s; heal yourself and heal the planet.”
“We are interconnected and interdependent with everything around us.” said Fran.
“There a silver lining in every dark cloud” said Fran
“The care that we give them throughout their entire life cycle is just as important because this concept of aftercare and preventative care and acute care is in our eyes, almost all the same. And we know that you feel the same with your emphasis on nutrition and exercise and integrative care, and really putting health and care back into health care.” said Eileen
“The home is the most toxic place, we have to ask ourselves, why did this happen? Why am I in this mess? What has happened to me that has broken down my immune system? Because the immune system should be able to handle most things that come to us.”
“I'm someone that is constantly trying to reinvent the wheel, I do not abide by the status quo. I break it down, and I cracked the code. And I try and fix what's broke.” said Fran
“You know, and I feel like I got famous, I got cancer, and I live to talk about it. So that all helps to make sense out of the senseless, turning your pain into purpose. Yeah, that's what we're both doing. But on some level, you have to also ask yourself, what are you carrying in terms of pain from your past, perhaps, you know, all of that stuff because you can put a lot of energy out there. that's of critical importance. Because you have a purpose, and this is your destiny.”
“We distance ourselves from ourselves, because we're out there helping so many people and you said, Don't give me acupuncture, I want to give 1000 women acupuncture. And that's great. As long as you have the time and focus on you, because if you're not seeing yourself, because you have this full sense of being empowered by helping other people, you are helping other people. But you must help yourself” said Fran.
“People say I'm so depressed because there's so many things wrong with the world. And I say to them, you know, what, don't try to fix the world. fix yourself. Yes. within you, yes. If you can just fix yourself. You're already making a significant change in the world. Each one teaches one, yes. But there's so much that we miss within ourselves, because we're looking out there.” said Fran
“Yesterday, I think it was a girl came over with his dog because I like my dog to get to play with other dogs. And she's wearing these heavy kind of work boots. And I said, you know, we're going to get wet. She said, I don't care if the boots get wet. I said, No, no, take your boots off. Don't you want to feel the energy of the earth, we're on the beach surfing, there's all these negative ions, the energy field, the earth, you're like an antenna, let it you know, recalibrate your body's energy field.” said Fran.
“We wanted to ask you how you keep yourself, you know, giggling and positive in these really otherwise? uncertain times?
Well, you know it's a daily practice. Yeah. It's something that you have to be mindful of. You're never you're always going to be pulling yourself back into the positive light because, you know, I'm a Buddhist or Buju and so that's something that is very much a through line of philosophy. All of that noise is going to be distracting you and you got to always kind of pull it back. You know, what brings me joy; I like Big City, being a part of nature, I like observing wild animals I like I love seeing my dog I when I when she, runs to get a stuffed toy and starts playing with it and brings it over to me, It's so sweet. I love to cook, I love arranging flowers, I love working in the garden. I love feeding people and I think all of those things, flowers cooking, those are actually considered some meditations, they bring my focus into something that's hand eye coordination, and I start to get very at one with what I'm doing. And these are the things that I try and do every day.” said Fran
Learn about Cancer Schmancer’s & it's mission is to save lives by transforming the nation’s current sick care system into one that focuses on genuine health care. They accomplish this with a three-pronged approach:
Prevention. Cancer Schmancer advocates a forward-thinking, holistic, whole-body approach to wellness. Our many initiatives educate young people and adults how to identify and eliminate the causes of cancer and other disease in their daily routines. We enlist medical advisors who conduct work and research into new medical frontiers like functional and integrative medicine, and we encourage people to examine the mind-body-spirit relationship as well as the relationship between personal health and the health of the entire planet. Like Fran says, “Let’s not get sick in the first place. How’s that for a cure?”
Early Detection. The vast majority of cancers are curable when discovered early. Cancer Schmancer provides information on self-examination and early warning signs, in addition to helping women in underserved communities connect with no- or low-cost screening services. Our motto is, “Catch it on arrival, 90% survival!”
Policy Change. Cancer Schmancer was instrumental in passing 2007's Gynecologic Cancer Education & Awareness Act -- by unanimous consent -- the first of its kind in US history, and Fran was named one of the Top 5 Celebrity Lobbyists by Washingtonian Magazine. Our latest drive encourages consumers — especially young people — to use the power of the purse to dictate responsible manufacturing trends. If you stop buying harmful products today, manufacturers will stop making them tomorrow.