Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anne Hamilton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anne, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
When I developed advanced-stage breast cancer in my early thirties, it came as a huge shock because there was no history of cancer in my family, I felt healthy at the time, and things were going really well with my career. One day I was meeting with Hollywood executives, talking about my festival movie and future career plans, and the next day I was sitting in a chemo chair, scheduling a double mastectomy and and wondering if I would live to see my fortieth birthday.
A lot of my resilience comes from believing that I’m part of a bigger story, and I want to know what happens next. I step outside myself and see myself as a character I’m rooting for. It also comes from knowing that I belong to a community of survivors, and I have a responsibility to show up for them in the best way I can. I hope I can help people find meaning in suffering and integrate it into their own stories in an authentic, meaningful way.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a Hollywood writer-director as well as the founder of The Survivorship Collective, the first non-profit that advances education and advocacy around mental health and psychedelic-assisted therapies for cancer patients, survivors, and co-survivors. We are co-hosting a very special Zoom panel with Cedars Sinai Hospital about psychedelics and cancer on June 27 at 2 pm PT, 5 pm EST. You can learn more about us at www.survivorshipcollective.com
As a filmmaker, I enjoy telling stories about women, mental health, neurodiversity, and cancer, to connect with and inspire others. I’ve also adapted books for the screen, developed feature and pilot scripts for major studios including Paramount and Miramax, and directed episodic television. My next feature shoots in Europe later this year. Before becoming a filmmaker I worked in government, with nonprofits, and in higher education. I’m a certified mediator, earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Stanford University, and graduated from Notre Dame and the American Film Institute.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Getting to meet your authentic self is the greatest gift. Make the choices in life that allow you to become who you are.
Sometimes the only thing you can do in a situation is to show up in a graceful, grounded way. That’s something to be proud of. I remember feeling so terrible at times after a discouraging doctor’s appointment or chemo session, and it made me want to crawl under the covers and stay there forever. Then I would think of the way I handled it, and it would give me this emotional lift. That lift was everything at times.
For years after my cancer treatment was over, I lived my life in a very cautious, almost miserly way. I didn’t want to want things because I felt like the more I had, the more I had to lose. I didn’t date, work on my career, think about having kids, etc. I was so afraid the cancer would come back, that thinking about things I used to want often made me burst into tears. But that’s a waste of a life. There’s a big difference between what breaks your heart and what breaks your spirit. You have to let the world break your heart a thousand times over. You have to keep loving and desiring and growing and giving, while knowing that it will all end, someday, sooner or later. That means you’ve lived well.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Nature! I love going for hour-long walks at least once a day. There’s a park called Debs near my house where I often take my dog, Ajax. We explore the dirt paths and look down on the city of Los Angeles from the tall pine trees. There’s nothing that eases the mind like being in nature, and we need to protect her.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://survivorshipcollective.com/, anne-hamilton.com
- Instagram: @the_anne_hamilton,@survivorshipcollective
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/anne-h-86b42a54
