The Manuscript Is Now in the Hands of Readers

There comes a moment in every creative journey when the work leaves your hands.

This month is that time for me.

After two years of writing, revising, reflecting, and courageously telling the truth, my manuscript — Let Us Play: Thriving With & Beyond Cancer™ — is now in the hands of trusted early readers.

Five thoughtful individuals are reading it not to edit grammar or polish sentences, but to experience it.

To notice how it lands.
To feel where it breathes.
To gently reflect back what resonates.

And I will share something honestly:

Pressing “send” was harder than writing the book.

This manuscript carries more than research and Positive Psychology frameworks. It carries my lived experience as a cancer survivor. It carries my studies in metaphysical science. It carries grief, growth, forgiveness, and the sacred return to play after illness and trauma tried to redefine everything.

Sending it out required vulnerability.

Not because I doubt the work, but because I care deeply about it.

What I Am Listening For

This book is not meant to impress.

It is meant to accompany.

If it one day sits beside a survivor in a waiting room…
or rests on a bedside table after a difficult appointment…
or supports a practitioner seeking a more joy-centered approach to healing…

then it must feel human.
Grounded.
Hopeful.
Real.

My early readers are helping me ensure it does.

The Sacred Middle

There is a space between private creation and public offering.

That is where I stand today.

It is tender.
It is humbling.
It is brave.

Imposter syndrome whispered.
Fear hesitated.
But purpose pressed “send.”

And now I wait — not anxiously, but openly.

Refinement is not a sign of weakness.
It is a sign of stewardship.

This step marks the beginning of something larger than a manuscript. It is the continuation of the Let Us Play Series™ mission — creating spaces where survivors remember they are still allowed joy, still allowed creativity, still allowed life.

Thank you for walking this journey with me.

Something beautiful is becoming.

With gratitude,
Lisa Caughman, MSc, HHP, CAPP
Founder, Lee Lees Life Lessons