Excerpts, talkbacks and Q&A with special guests
providing health and healing education and advocacy.
Wednesday
April 28, 2021 at 7:30pm PT
ANCAN featuring
Elizabeth McLachlan
Elizabeth McLachlan will share excerpts of how she uses creative pursuits like tap dancing and singing to express herself, undeterred by the challenges that multiple sclerosis (MS) has brought into her life. MS is a debilitating disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system. She will be accompanied by her brother Jonny, who plays multiple string instruments.
Watch Below
ABOUT THE PERFORMER
Elizabeth McLachlan has been creative, adventurous, and curious about the world since she was young. She grew up tap dancing and playing the clarinet and also loved to sing. Her curiosity and love of learning about other cultures and religions led her to become an anthropology student. She incorporates bits of what she’s learned into her own life. Her sense of adventure has taken her to India, South Africa, Guatemala, and France. Diagnosed with MS at the age of 20, Elizabeth has had to adjust her activities to accommodate the disease. A mother of two, she has found honor and joy in caring for her children, but MS has also made parenting extra challenging. “It’s tough to learn to be a caregiver when sometimes you need one yourself.” She also loves to write (including her blog, msGuidedbits.com), and recently started experimenting with painting. “There are so many avenues to express oneself, and I have fun trying them all.”
Elizabeth’s brother Jonny McLachlan is a creative soul as well. He’s a proficient violin, mandolin, and guitar player, and he loves to play a wide variety of music, especially folk. He has enriched Elizabeth’s creative life by teaching her about Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson, and other musical figures who sparked social movements. Jonny has accompanied Elizabeth in her travels, is a wonderful uncle to her children, and manages his own chronic disease: Type 2 diabetes.
ABOUT SOLO ARTS HEAL
SOLO ARTS HEAL, a weekly MarshStream Public Broadcast Platform program, presents empowering performances about healing and resilience. Through hosted interviews, talkbacks and audience Q&A, the Solo Arts Heal program provides transformative experiences, education, community outreach and advocacy through stories that celebrate the healing power of the arts.
ABOUT ANCAN
AnCan is about people helping people, peer-to-peer ….. we are people living with various conditions and situations who help others faced with similar issues. We do this collectively and individually by providing answers, support and navigation to empower people living with serious and chronic conditions to address their worlds. Our non-profit vision is to provide easily accessible, inclusive virtual peer support for every serious disease and condition allowing widespread participation, especially to those geographically, physically or socially disadvantaged.
AnCan currently hosts around 30 monthly video chat virtual meetings for 11 different conditions. We also produce a dozen or so webinars each year. If you are interested in starting a group for your condition, please reach out to us at info@ancan.org.
If you’d like to sign up for any of our free, drop-in sessions, please visit https://ancan.org
About the Host
Rick Davis is a serial social entrepreneur with a background in finance and real estate. Back in 2010, he had the vision to make peer support virtual and bring it to those who needed it, rather than them having to seek it out. First proving the concept for prostate cancer, AnCan started with telephone conference calls, innovated video chat groups back in 2015, and now hosts almost 30 monthly groups for various cancers, multiple sclerosis and more. Rick met The Marsh’s Founder, Stephanie Weisman through providing support and navigation to a mutual friend. He and AnCan are thrilled and honored to collaborate with The Marsh on Solo Arts Heal.