In the Balance

This week Susan talks with Kitty O’Meara, author of “And the people stayed home” viral poem that inspired people all over the world. She talks about her creative and spiritual journey, her experiences being present for people’s life and the moment they pass on, and her vision for healing. Kitty also shares some of her poetry with us, in this beautifully touching and hopeful episode.

“Put yourself out there and learn about the people close to you. Community is so much more than hanging out. Community is action.” 

In this week’s episode performance poet, actor and profoundly connected activist Tamora Israel talks about bringing people together, speaking your truth and allowing your own personal experience to inspire others and create community wherever you are.

“Sometimes in the beginning of grief we feel like ‘How dare I continue? How dare I go on with life when someone I love is not able to? How dare I ever experience joy again?’ And yet writing new chapters of life is what they would wish for us. It’s a way of taking them with us.” 

In this last episode of the Grief Sessions, Susan talks with Dr Ken Druck, an author and pioneer of helping people become more resilient and courageous, particularly after the loss of a loved one. Ken talks with us about his own journey of embracing life after the loss of his beloved daughter, his own work and what he calls the “six honorings,” and how to become more compassionate and resilient while facing the challenges of today’s world.

“The journey is propelled by the questions you ask. So I cannot sit here and say ‘Why me? Why did this happen? Oh my god…’ because it doesn’t lead anywhere. So I ask, “What now? What do I do with this? This is my fate. So let’s live it. What’s the next step of living this?’”

Journalist, memoirist, and author Lorraine Ash shares with us her experience of losing her daughter just before birth, and her subsequent journey “through the land of love and grief” to heal, recover, and move forward.

“There’s a lot of pressure on people to get over their grief. You can do things in your own time in your own way.”

In the third episode of The Grief Sessions, Susan talks with author Madonna Treadway about her unique, inspiring and hopeful approach for adults dealing with their childhood losses.

She asks the gentle questions to help us move forward with any loss, and teaches us how to use our unique gifts to discover our strengths and find a path to wholeness. 

"My work is not just to be the poet…but the person who says 'Man, I’ve been hurt in my life. Have you?'”

In this second episode of The Grief Sessions, Susan is joined by Gayle Danley, slam poet and grief guide to children and teenagers across the nation. 

Together they discuss the importance of acknowledging the existence of grief in the lives of children, how to listen and ask questions, so that they can find their voices and allow it to take shape through poetry, writing, art or however they wish to express themselves. 

"We are soft bodies in a hard world..."

We begin a five episode series called "The Grief Sessions" with the brilliant and extraordinary Dr. Robert A Neimeyer. Together he and Susan talk about the many manifestations of grief which include the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the loss of a relationship, but also the collective and seemingly unending losses we are currently experiencing through the global health and cultural crises we find ourselves in at this moment in our history. 

Susan talks to Broadway leading lady Sandra Joseph, who starred as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera for a record-breaking 10 years about something we all can relate to: Fear and not letting it “run the show.” She also discusses her process for personal growth and her universal message of practicing loving kindness both inwardly to ourselves and outwardly to all those around us.

Award-winning playwright and writer Sibyl Kempson sheds some light onto her creative process, discussing how to work with what you’ve got while still stretching yourself to the limits of imagination and curiosity, how to intuitively uncover new narrative structures, and find the fun, the joy, and the buoyancy of creating. She also talks about COVID-19 and the potential opportunity to reclaim what has been taken away from is, if we are willing to do so.

Who are we beyond the anxious thought or the anxious feeling? What is it saying to you? What is it teaching you? 

In the final episode in our series of anxiety, Susan talks with somatic therapist Deborah Claire Bagg about how to treat anxiety with a multidisciplinary, holistic approach. She believes in treating the whole person, not just their symptoms. This may include psychotherapy, breath work, herbal remedies, or yoga (to name a few!) and it all depends on the individual needs of the person.