Cancer changed outlook for Mariposa native; she’ll share it all during the fair

For Erin Bressler (née Begley), bringing her book Mindful Companion and her small business, Bootjack Girl, to the Mariposa County Fair is more than an opportunity to share something she created. It is a homecoming.

Born and raised in Mariposa, Bressler grew up in Bootjack as Erin Begley, a name that may be familiar to longtime local residents. Years later, she would borrow the name of the small community that helped shape her for a business created from an experience she never imagined would become part of her story.

In August 2021, at age 41, Bressler’s life changed with three words: “You have cancer.”

She had been teaching fitness classes and raising her two daughters when a routine mammogram, followed by an ultrasound and biopsy, led to a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer.

What followed was a year defined by treatment and survival: 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 52 weeks of targeted therapy, a bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction surgeries, infections, medical procedures and setbacks.

But some of the most difficult parts of cancer could not be seen.

Fear became a constant companion. There were panic attacks, sleepless nights, physical pain and the uncertainty that comes when the life you thought you knew suddenly disappears.

“I went from living to surviving,” Bressler said.

Eventually, however, survival was no longer enough.

During treatment, Bressler began writing. At first, the pages simply gave her somewhere to put the fear, pain and emotions she was carrying. Over time, writing became something more.

She began exploring mindfulness and learning how to remain present instead of allowing fear about the future to consume the life she still had in front of her.

She describes the transformation through an image familiar to anyone who has watched a sunflower follow the light.

“I adapted the way of the sunflower and learned how to shine in darkness,” she said.

That philosophy became the foundation for Mindful Companion, Bressler’s book of personal reflections and simple mindfulness practices designed to help people slow down, reset and reconnect with what matters most.

Although cancer was the catalyst, Bressler emphasizes that Mindful Companion is not simply a book about cancer.

It is for anyone who has found themselves somewhere in life they never expected to be.

Its message grew from cancer, but also from the universal experiences of fear, uncertainty, grief, change and starting over. Bressler hopes readers can use what she learned to find moments of peace, gratitude, humor and even joy while moving through their own difficult seasons.

Her experience also inspired Bootjack Girl, the small business whose name pays tribute to the Mariposa community where her own story began.

Bootjack Girl combines Bressler’s love of creativity with the same themes found throughout her book: resilience, mindfulness, connection and finding a little light in ordinary life. Her handmade and thoughtfully selected creations carry a rustic, western spirit reflective of the place she still considers home.

Even the skull that has become part of the Bootjack Girl identity has a deeper meaning. For Bressler, it represents survival and resilience, but also a reminder that life is finite — and that the present deserves our attention.

“Cancer changed the way I look at time,” she said. “You realize how much of life we can spend worrying about what already happened or what might happen next. I want people to remember that this moment matters.”

That makes this year’s Mariposa County Fair especially meaningful.

Bressler will bring Bootjack Girl and Mindful Companion home to Mariposa with a booth featuring signed copies of the book along with an assortment of her rustic, western inspired creations and gifts.

For her, setting up a booth in the community where she was raised represents something much bigger than selling products.

It closes a circle.

Long before there was a cancer diagnosis, a book or a business, there was a girl growing up in Bootjack. The roots she developed in Mariposa stayed with her through a journey that eventually took her somewhere she could never have anticipated.

Now she is returning with something created from that journey.

“Deep roots have a way of holding us steady, even when life turns our world upside down,” Bressler said. “Bringing Bootjack Girl and Mindful Companion back to Mariposa feels like bringing a piece of my story home.”

Bressler hopes people who stop at her booth will find something that makes them smile, something meaningful to give another person, or perhaps a message they needed to hear themselves.

More than anything, she hopes her story reminds people that difficult chapters do not have to be the final chapters.

Life can change without warning. Plans can disappear. Fear can take over. But Bressler believes there can also be something waiting on the other side — a new purpose, a new appreciation for an ordinary day or simply the courage to begin again.

For the Mariposa native who turned one of the darkest periods of her life into Mindful Companion and Bootjack Girl, coming to the County Fair isn’t simply about where her business is going.

It is about where it began.

Bootjack. Mariposa. Home