Blissful is given the "all clear" by her surgeon and gets ready to step into the rest of her life.

1. Surgery for breast cancer has completely changed Blissful's body, but has given her a new power of bravery and knowing herself better.
2. One friend calls her a "sur-thriver" facing down the situation directly, and trying to do what St. Paul said, to "rejoice always and not worry about anything."
3. Time is running out but wouldn't it be cool to live fully, audaciously, without fear – and with joy – even in an uncertain world?
4. Next week, Blissful heads back to trail in Arizona to finish a portion she had to skip when walking two years ago.

MUSIC: Introduccion y Allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.

Blissful takes her first hike on a trail after surgery for breast cancer and decides she prefers to be described as a "thriver" – or even "aliver" – rather than survivor.

1. It's a hot, humid summer day at Lebanon Hills, a region carved by glaciers with kettles and eskers, plus the singing of numerous birds.
2. Blissful's surgeon tells her it's time to put on a backpack and get back on trail, even though she's isn't completely healed.
3. Illness humbles us and teaches us about our vulnerability and ultimate decline, and yet it opens us up to discover our superpowers, like moving forward to see what's next.
4. It's the price we pay for being alive, but it offers us a chance to appreciate what we have even more.

MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.

As Blissful heals from a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer, she reflects on the person she wants to be going forward. 

1. Blissful is incredibly lucky in only having to undergo a radical surgery to rid her body of cancer. 
2. Step by step walking through her neighborhood, she slowly recovers back to her hiker self. 
3. The American writer Joyce Carol Oates speaks of the moment we realize that loss is part of our experience. “When that starts to happen to you, it is quite stunning.”
4. Being out of control with illness is falling-to-the-knees humbling for Blissful and it's a challenge to stay positive and "bad ass."
5. But she's inspired by the late actor Julian Sands who spoke of climbing summits as "not so  much a celebration of oneself, but the eradication of one’s self-consciousness. And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony, hopefully with your environment.” 
6. What a way to live!

MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.