Today, my daughter and I walked to the Hazeldean Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. We had a small project to work on together, and decided to combine our walk with a change of scenery. The atmosphere was perfect: quiet enough that we could concentrate on our work, bustling enough to feel part of a happy community.

My favourite selection in this week's Saturday Synopsis is the exchange between the horse and the boy in Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse:

"What do we do when our hearts hurt?" asked the boy.

"We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful and happy again."

I told my friend that a few years ago, someone had said to me that work-life balance is the old term—the new concept is work-life integration. Wonderful, I thought at the time. My failure at work-life balance could be rewritten as success at work-life integration—the continuous blending of work and home life. The problem with that idea is that when we try to do two things at the same time, we don't do either particularly well. And in my case, home life inevitably took a back seat to work when the latter demanded it.

I was initially saddened when I got my genetic testing results, but I've had a few weeks to come to terms with the information. My test results didn't change the reality that I've had the BRCA gene change since birth; they simply provided me with information that I can use to make decisions regarding additional breast screening and potential preventive surgery.

It would be so easy to focus on the weeds—the things that aren't going well. But I prefer Perez's view: flowers don't stop blooming, bees don't stop pollinating, and plants don't stop living because weeds appear. I won't cease living even though I'm facing some thorny issues. I will deal with each weed as it comes, removing the ones I can and learning to live with the ones I can't. And I will keep growing strong.

When Barbara Walters asked professor and science writer Isaac Asimov what he would do if told he had only six months to live, he said, "Type faster."

Many years ago, I went to see a specialist in infectious diseases for a recurring health problem that had stumped a few doctors. As the specialist was prodding my neck, he casually asked, "Do you have CATS?" Several thoughts flashed through my mind: OMG, that's what I have: CATS. I don't know what that is, but I'm relieved that someone has finally figured out my problem. Out loud, and with some fear in my voice, I asked: "What's that?" He replied, with some bewilderment, "You know—meow!"

A woman who was recently diagnosed with cancer contacted me the other day, acknowledging that she is gripped by fear and self-doubt. These feelings are normal, I replied. I also admitted that I face fear and self-doubt myself. In fact, I have more fear now than I did a few weeks ago. In addition to worrying about the possibility of a recurrence of ovarian cancer, I now fret that I will develop breast cancer given that I am a carrier of the BRCA2 gene change. It can all feel very overwhelming.

Taking care of your body is like owning a car. You can pay someone to change your oil, rotate your tires and fix your brakes, but you have to stay on top of your vehicle's maintenance schedule and get it to the shop when needed. You have to heed the warning signs and respond appropriately. You need to consult professionals when things get complicated. Unlike a car, however, you have only one body. There are no trade-ins. No back-up in case the first car breaks down. No hitching a ride with someone else.

"We create plenty of distractions for ourselves by juggling tasks, making ourselves perpetually available to others, opening several windows on our computers, and focusing on whatever feels most urgent at the moment, without regard to whether what we're doing is really important. In our reactive rush to stay ahead of a wave we fear will drown us, we're forever racing to keep up with external demands. We're far less effective at setting our own agenda and sticking by it."

— Tony Schwartz, The Way We're Working Isn't Working

"Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us."

— Nicole Reed

"What do we do when our hearts hurt?" asked the boy.

"We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful and happy again."

— Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

"Take care of yourself and take care of each other. You do not control everything that you deal with each day. What you do control is the way in which you respond, treat each other, and take care of yourselves so that you are resilient, healthy, and strong. You will find that if you look after people well they will generally give you their best."

— A friend