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What I'm Waiting For
PODCAST SHOW NOTES
Episode Title
Waiting with Grace: Living Fully Through Cancer, Uncertainty & Life's Unknowns
Episode Description
In this deeply personal episode of The Writer's Journey, Laura Davis shares a raw and beautifully crafted essay about waiting—for medical results, surgery dates, genetic testing outcomes, and answers that may never come. With her signature honesty and literary precision, Laura explores how she navigates a second breast cancer diagnosis alongside diverticulitis while refusing to put her life on hold. This episode offers a masterclass in holding uncertainty with grace while living each moment fully.
What Laura Covers in This Episode
The profound practice of waiting through multiple medical uncertainties
Navigating a second breast cancer diagnosis eighteen years after the first
Learning what genetic testing reveals about family inheritance and risk
Distinguishing between what we wait for and what we refuse to postpone
Finding grace and joy in the face of profound unknowns
The writing craft behind transforming personal crisis into meaningful memoir
About Host Laura Davis
Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience guiding writers to tell their most meaningful stories. Her award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars" won the 2021 BookLife Prize and explores her complex relationship with her mother through unflinching honesty and literary grace. Laura is the author of seven books, including the groundbreaking co-authored work "The Courage to Heal," which has helped millions of survivors worldwide.
As host of The Writer's Journey podcast, Laura combines memoir writing instruction with deeply personal essays that demonstrate the craft she teaches. She leads weekly Zoom classes and international retreats, including "Flourishing as We Age" at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, California. https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/
Through her Substack newsletter, Laura shares poetry, nature photography, and insights on both writing craft and living with intention. Her work has been featured in major publications and recognized with numerous awards for its contribution to the memoir genre.
Resources Laura Mentions
Writing Programs & Retreats:
Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women (June 1-7, 2026, Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, California) https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/
Laura Davis's weekly writing classes: https://lauradavis.net/writing-classes/
The Writer's Journey Substack newsletter: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
Website:
Laura Davis's official site: https://lauradavis.net/
Key Takeaways from This Episode
Use Specificity to Convey Universal Experience: Laura's detailed catalog of foods she can't eat transforms a medical restriction into an evocative meditation on longing and limitation that any reader can feel.
Balance Waiting with Living: Distinguish clearly between what requires waiting (medical results, future plans) and what you can claim right now (love, joy, presence, breath)—this distinction offers agency amid uncertainty.
Harness Repetition as Literary Device: The repeated phrase "I am waiting" creates rhythm and emotional accumulation, demonstrating how anaphora can build meaning and power in memoir writing.
Find the Specific Truth Within Broad Statements: Rather than simply stating "life is precious," Laura shows us exactly what preciousness looks like through concrete choices, moments, and refusals.
Write Through Crisis Without Resolution: Great memoir doesn't require tidy endings—Laura's essay demonstrates how writing from the middle of uncertainty can create profound connection with readers facing their own unknowns.
Episode Call-to-Action
Ready to deepen your practice? Subscribe to The Writer's Journey newsletter at https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ for weekly essays, memoir writing guidance, and beautifully curated poetry and nature photography.
Want to write with Laura? Explore her weekly Zoom classes, international retreats, and the upcoming "Flourishing as We Age" retreat (June 1-7, 2026) at https://lauradavis.net/
Connect with Laura Davis
Subscribe to The Writer's Journey:https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.
You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Laura DavisPODCAST SHOW NOTES
Episode Title
Waiting with Grace: Living Fully Through Cancer, Uncertainty & Life's Unknowns
Episode Description
In this deeply personal episode of The Writer's Journey, Laura Davis shares a raw and beautifully crafted essay about waiting—for medical results, surgery dates, genetic testing outcomes, and answers that may never come. With her signature honesty and literary precision, Laura explores how she navigates a second breast cancer diagnosis alongside diverticulitis while refusing to put her life on hold. This episode offers a masterclass in holding uncertainty with grace while living each moment fully.
What Laura Covers in This Episode
The profound practice of waiting through multiple medical uncertainties
Navigating a second breast cancer diagnosis eighteen years after the first
Learning what genetic testing reveals about family inheritance and risk
Distinguishing between what we wait for and what we refuse to postpone
Finding grace and joy in the face of profound unknowns
The writing craft behind transforming personal crisis into meaningful memoir
About Host Laura Davis
Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with over 35 years of experience guiding writers to tell their most meaningful stories. Her award-winning memoir "The Burning Light of Two Stars" won the 2021 BookLife Prize and explores her complex relationship with her mother through unflinching honesty and literary grace. Laura is the author of seven books, including the groundbreaking co-authored work "The Courage to Heal," which has helped millions of survivors worldwide.
As host of The Writer's Journey podcast, Laura combines memoir writing instruction with deeply personal essays that demonstrate the craft she teaches. She leads weekly Zoom classes and international retreats, including "Flourishing as We Age" at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz, California. https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/
Through her Substack newsletter, Laura shares poetry, nature photography, and insights on both writing craft and living with intention. Her work has been featured in major publications and recognized with numerous awards for its contribution to the memoir genre.
Resources Laura Mentions
Writing Programs & Retreats:
Flourishing as We Age: A Writing Retreat for Women (June 1-7, 2026, Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz, California) https://lauradavis.net/flourishing/
Laura Davis's weekly writing classes: https://lauradavis.net/writing-classes/
The Writer's Journey Substack newsletter: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
Website:
Laura Davis's official site: https://lauradavis.net/
Key Takeaways from This Episode
Use Specificity to Convey Universal Experience: Laura's detailed catalog of foods she can't eat transforms a medical restriction into an evocative meditation on longing and limitation that any reader can feel.
Balance Waiting with Living: Distinguish clearly between what requires waiting (medical results, future plans) and what you can claim right now (love, joy, presence, breath)—this distinction offers agency amid uncertainty.
Harness Repetition as Literary Device: The repeated phrase "I am waiting" creates rhythm and emotional accumulation, demonstrating how anaphora can build meaning and power in memoir writing.
Find the Specific Truth Within Broad Statements: Rather than simply stating "life is precious," Laura shows us exactly what preciousness looks like through concrete choices, moments, and refusals.
Write Through Crisis Without Resolution: Great memoir doesn't require tidy endings—Laura's essay demonstrates how writing from the middle of uncertainty can create profound connection with readers facing their own unknowns.
Episode Call-to-Action
Ready to deepen your practice? Subscribe to The Writer's Journey newsletter at https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/ for weekly essays, memoir writing guidance, and beautifully curated poetry and nature photography.
Want to write with Laura? Explore her weekly Zoom classes, international retreats, and the upcoming "Flourishing as We Age" retreat (June 1-7, 2026) at https://lauradavis.net/
Connect with Laura Davis
Subscribe to The Writer's Journey:https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.
You can subscribe here: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasaridavis.substack.com/subscribe