Archives of The Cheerful Oncologist, Volume 2

Why are we here? Where are we going? It’s time that we found out.
We’re not here to stay; we’re on a short holiday.

Life is just a bowl of cherries,
Don’t take it serious; it’s too mysterious.
You work, you save, you worry so,
But you can’t take your dough when you go, go, go.

“Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries”, 1931
lyrics by Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson

Into each of our lives a little sun must shine, a little joy must visit, a little praise, good luck, achievement, contentment or unexpected relief must occur - whether we deserve it or not. It’s only natural that the law of averages dishes out happiness from time to time, and when we receive it we might consider it to be simply payment for services rendered, or like myself, call it a gift - a delight as pleasing as finding a bowl of plump, juicy cherries on a sunny countertop. Enjoying the merry-go-round called life helps us to cope with those times when it becomes as toilsome as clearing brush under the August sun, or as irritating as waiting for the check after a lousy meal. Such nuisances are all a part of the world we occupy, so maybe we should buck up and do the song says. Don’t take everything so hard. Don’t worry so much. Cheer up - you’ll be finished on this planet before you know it so why not enjoy its delights while you can?

This is a pleasant argument, if not somewhat hackneyed. In fact even the song, as pretty as it is, soon gets tiresome, as if one is stuck in a pew listening to an extremely long sermon. Why doesn’t some wag come up with a more timely metaphor for life that can soothe the tortured souls commuting to work each day, their heads churning with chaos and stress? Who has even been to the kitchen lately to see if they’re still setting out heaping tureens of the crimson fruit for our meditation? Can’t some aspiring writer scratch out a few new lines depicting life in the 21st century with all its mystery?

Okay, I’ll do it, but just this once.

Actually what I’ve been pondering about lately is how life with all its burdens and strains can sometimes be thought of as a strand of DNA. The gentle reader will bear with me while I explain:

In order for an organism to survive, it must be able to generate new cells by replicating its genetic code contained within the double helices of DNA, then proceeding with cell division, or mitosis. In a way our life mimics this process, as we must continuously move forward in order to survive, growing in size and intelligence, gaining experience and maturity, learning to give and love. Stopping this evolution is like suddenly standing still. Unless we begin to move again we will certainly die.

The cell’s strands of DNA - its code for survival - are so long they cannot be stored within the nucleus unless they are compacted into pretzel-like coils called superhelices, similar to a telephone cord twisted into corkscrews. This is great for storage but when its time for the cell to divide the process of uncoiling the DNA creates too much tension on the strands to straighten them out, so in order to salvage mitosis clever enzymes called topoisomerases are called on to create breaks in the DNA where there is stress and tension. Again, think of detaching an twisted telephone cord so that it unwinds. By splitting the double helix the enzyme allows the supercoiled strand of DNA to pass through the breach and relieve the strain on it, then seals the rupture so as to maintain the gene’s integrity. Now as the strand untangles itself it relaxes and can form its proper shape for replication - for moving on with life.

So it is with our life. Sometimes we come under so much strain and tension that we feel ourselves curling up into a snarled knot of frustration and despair. Our hearts lie entrapped within coils of fear, anger or discouragement, and we cannot honestly imagine how we can go on any further. It is at this time when we need a catalyst to tear a breach in the strangling loops of stress, to release the pressure on our throat so that we can breathe again and straighten ourselves out - so that we can once again move on with our life.

Where does the release come from? What serves as the life-saving enzyme that cuts away the tension and allows us to heal?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is where I get off the stage. I suspect each of us has multiple remedies at our disposal, and it would be presumptuous as well as conceited of me to pretend that I know all the answers. I do know one thing, though, and I offer it to you as proof that your worries will soon fade, that the stress in your life pinning you down will soon snap as cleanly as a snipped strand of DNA. It is this: living cells have never failed to unbind themselves from strain, (otherwise this planet would really be known as the “Third Rock from the Sun”). This process is as natural as any other part of life, and because it occurs life passes down from generation to generation. Tension does not last long within the nucleus of a cell, and it will not last long within us. It is impossible to keep healing from occuring, so relax and wait for it to happen.

The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned,
So how can you lose what you’ve never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all.