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Crowdsourcing came to me organically.  After I was diagnosed I didn’t decide to solicit information, help and opinions from a large group of people.  I just did it.  Instinctively, I said and repeated, “I have cancer and I need your help” to throngs of family, friends, strangers, and acquaintances and waited for responses. As I campaigned for care I developed levels of humility and trust that were missing from my past. Before my diagnosis I typically relied on very few people for very few things.  Not because the people in my life were unwilling to help me, but because I felt more in control when handling things alone.
The poem that follows illustrates what I mean.

Is it better to be lonely or to be alone
I must decide before the night is through
Whether I want to stay at home
Or perhaps find something else to do
I could go out where there’s a crowd
Of lots of people I don’t know
Where the lights are low and the music’s loud
Or see a silent picture show
I could stay home and get some rest
Or tidy up, my room’s a mess
Or I could just wait and watch the phone
And be both lonely and alone.

By Pam circa 1985

That poem, like much of my teenaged angst, was a reaction to a misunderstanding, probably with a boy. Back then, when I was in a bad mood I processed my emotions with my only welcomed companions a pen, my notebook and the knob on my bedroom door. I rarely write poetry anymore, and thanks to rituals like prayer and meditation I’m not as moody. But like the young poet, I practice my new habits most regularly alone. At least I did until my fight against cancer.

As shared in part one of this post, when I learned that I had cancer I was by myself. I was not alone like a heartbroken girl, the kind of alone with walls, windows and doors. Nor was I alone like in the spiritual solitude of meditation or even alone like the peaceful privacy of prayer. No, my cancer diagnosis was like total isolation, like crouched in box alone.

No amount of poetry or prayer could meet the urgency I felt to escape the confines cancer. I needed a crowd to calm the panic of fighting for my life in isolation. The crowd gave me a connection to the rest of the world. The part of the world gathered outside my box, the part of the world that did not have cancer.

Margaret Thatcher cautioned, “Being prime minister is a lonely job… you cannot lead from the crowd.” It was also impossible to lead from inside the box cancer stuck me in so I crawled outside.  I took a cue from Thatcher and did not try to lead the crowd instead I followed the ebb and flow. As I followed the crowd I grew more self-sufficient and found the freedom that comes from being boxed in, the freedom to relinquish the illusion of control.  Without that illusion crowdsourcing was the logical choice for me while living with cancer for several reasons.

Crowdsourcing is a win/win

Crowdsourcing is defined as “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people …” What the dictionary excludes is that in business, the large group of people compete for a fee. When crowdsourcing cancer the fee that I offered was the opportunity to make a difference in my fight against cancer, not negotiable currency. Joining my journey had no tangible worth but to me it had more value than anything else in the world. It is astounding that so many people shared my opinion as evidenced by the time, energy, and talent invested in my wellbeing from friends, family, workers, and volunteers often with no measurable compensation.

When business crowdsource they make a request, wait for responses, and select from interested applicants. When crowdsourcing cancer I had to acknowledge that looking cancer in the eye is a tough job and it isn’t something everyone could do. Fortunately, everyone didn’t have to and those who could didn’t have to do more than they handle. The advantage of crowdsourcing cancer is that instead of relying on the few it harnesses the power many.  The lighter load made it easier for me to ask for assistance and I’m told made it easier for those who helped me.

Crowdsourcing inspires innovation.

When businesses crowdsource they go outside of the conventional employee pool. They have to accept or at least consider approaches less traditional than expected. I had to accept the unexpected diagnosis of cancer, getting accustomed the unpredictable nature of treatment and care came soon after. The “new normal” of having cancer required that I learn to regard anticipation with a bit of caution and to assume that nothing, good or bad, lasts forever. So when I crowdsourced cancer I was already used to having things done to me and for me in ways I had never seen before.  This helped because I was able to accept new approaches to tasks I’d already mastered.  It helped those in my crowd because they could do things their own way while catering to my needs.

Crowdsourcing is a lifestyle choice

When a business crowdsources they usually supply one scenario in need of a solution, a scenario that once solved effectively changes their bottom line. Although it wasn’t always clear to me I now know that living with cancer is not event it’s a lifestyle. And no matter what my three-month check ups show, crowdsourcing is not something that will be over and done either, it is and will always be part of my life for better or for worse I will most likely always explore the option of trusting the flow of a crowd.

Be well,

Pam