Podcast

This episode will speak to you whether you have lost someone close or distant or only know someone who has. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough not to experience loss in your life. The message of this show is pertinent no matter what your experience with grief may be, and it will fit whatever season of life you currently find yourself within. For my friends who are on their path with grief, I ask that you listen intently with your heart and open your mind to the truths you may already know. I realize how the dark clouds can sometimes dim your perspective on your life at this moment, but you need to know and understand the sun is indeed there… it’s tucked behind a few clouds right now.

There are so many pieces of this grief puzzle, aren't there? Whether you have been directly affected by a loss or have yet to be, even just knowing someone and seeing them work through their grief, you get an idea of the many puzzle pieces in their life. Recently I've been feeling as though I might be watching the world walk by in this new life I find myself defining. It should not be a surprise that I question, "Am I living enough yet?" How about you? Can you relate to this thought?

Over the past two years of producing this podcast and living through grief for three years, I've discovered one thing is always true. It’s difficult for some people to understand grief. Specifically, it’s hard for some to understand what people are actually “going through” daily with their grief. In addition, many don’t quite get why grief can never be considered to have an end. To help shed a brighter light on these common and difficult-to-understand truths about grief, I’d like to approach it differently with a poignant question that will hopefully lead to a better understanding. How often do you have the chance with your person, spouse, a close family member, or a friend right now to entertain the phrase, “Remember when…”? To understand grief better, I would now like you to imagine not being able to have that conversation.

In this episode, I’ve chosen to share with you a list I believe is quite important in helping us understand grief on a deeper level. Often I see or hear stories of someone who has experienced a friend or family member in their life not quite understanding how grief affects them even years after their loss. Perpetuating the misunderstanding of grief, its depth, and why there is no end to grief. This discussion will shed light on grief and allow you to understand better the “forever of grief” and why that is a fact.

Today’s episode takes on a voice and an experience unlike any episode before. I’ve decided to take you along on a very personal experience and relay to you my thoughts as I searched for memories I discovered I longed for. I hope to enlighten you on how we might best approach grieving positively and with uplifting results. To ultimately help us truly navigate our loss and set us on a path forward.

Through tragedy and difficult times in your life, how often have you heard the suggestion to keep busy? As we navigate our grief journey, I'm sure there have been several times you've heard yourself answering a friend's inquiry about how you are doing with, "I'm keeping busy." Here's the question I'd like you to consider today. Have you thought about your answer about "keeping busy"? Are you "keeping busy?" And does it help? Lets discuss this a little more.

We all understand that losing someone special brings plenty of grief. How we navigate our grief is the key to a successful journey through grief. Our goal through grief should be to survive our loss for our loved ones and ourselves and find a way to move forward. To do so, we need to understand grief better and discover the tools available to do so. Today, we will explore how a healthy conversation with grief can help us accomplish this more confidently and with a positive understanding of the process.

In today’s episode I’d like to examine what it means to “Make Room for Hope” in your life after loss and during your grief journey. It’s an important aspect of grief which one day will we will all come to face. In my opinion, to live without hope is not to live at all. The ultimate question is how can you best begin to consider making room for hope without ignoring your current feelings of loss and your need to grieve? 

I've recently realized, with the help and insight of a new friend, that often, in grief, we focus on the loss and how we came to deal with it and not as much on the tangible suggestions and successes we may have experienced as we attempt to take a step forward from our loss. The common question put forth by someone who's experienced loss is simple; "How do you move forward?" This question never seems to be quickly answered for a good reason… it's nearly an impossible question to answer. However, I believe suggestions can be shared to help guide those contemplating this question. In this episode, I will share things I've heard or tried myself and, at the very least, provide a few suggestions for you to seriously consider when you ask, "How do I take a step forward from my loss?"