All Around Me: Travelling To and From the Douglas

One of the things that's true about living in a suburb on the North Shore of Montreal is that I'm really, really far away from pretty much everything I want to get to. This is especially true of my daily journey to the Douglas hospital, because it's in Verdun and itself pretty far away from everything else.

Luckily, the Douglas and its surrounding area are unbelievably beautiful.

The hospital faces some sort of body of water and the view is absolutely spectacular. This comes in handy if I've decided to walk either to or from the hospital. It's calming to look at the water while I wait for a bus, especially when the wait is a long one.

The Douglas grounds themselves are expansive and park-like. I can wander around, have a picnic, practice yoga in the shade. I love the smell and feel of the grass, the openness, the quiet, the chance to disconnect from a hectic, crowded, and noisy urban world.

I'm so grateful to have this space and this time, especially since treatment leaves me feeling incredibly drained and exhausted. I love looking at the beautiful trees and discovering the world around me. I feel like, in the middle of my days dedicated to my disease and its management, I have found a space just for being.

There is so much more to health than just the minimization or absence of illness. 

I get to the hospital much in advance of my daily treatments (because public transit is a fickle beast, sometimes), and it gives me an opportunity to be with the world around me. Over and over, I find myself thinking how lucky I am, which isn't something I've felt much of in the past years. It's amazing what impact being surrounded by natural beauty can have.

I'm not saying you should have all your future family picnics out on the grounds of the Douglas, but if you'd like to join me in sitting on the grass during my last week of treatment, you'd be more than welcome to share this time and space with me.