Grief Is My Side Hustle

The extraordinary poet and writer sits down with Meghan to discuss her new memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful (The title a nod to her viral poem Good Bones).  Maggie explores the concepts of partnership, marital roles, and how writing helps us find out truth.

 

https://maggiesmithpoet.com

Meghan sits down with one of her favorite authors–Laura Zigman to discuss ther widely celebrated most recent novel Small World. Laura decribes how she fused the emotional experiences of the death of her sister into the story of two divorced sisters who come to live in the same house for the first time in decades. 

Laura Zigman is the author of five novels, including Separation Anxiety (which was optioned by Julianne Nicholson and the production company Wiip (Mare of Easttown) for a limited television series); Animal Husbandry (which was made into the movie Someone Like You, starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd), Dating Big Bird, Her, and Piece of Work. She has ghostwritten/collaborated on several works of non-fiction, including Eddie Izzard's New York Times bestseller, Believe Me; been a contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post; produced a popular online series of animated videos called Annoying Conversations; and was the recipient of a Yaddo residency. Her sixth novel, Small World, was published in January 2023. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

https://www.laurazigman.com

This week Meghan Sits Down with the delightful Cyndie Speigel to talk about Microjoys and how she coped with the murder of her nephew, death of mother, and own diagnosis with breast cancer.  Despite the heaviness of the topic Cyndie offers us laughter, hope and deep wisdom that comes from facing the hardest of times.

 

About Cyndie:

Cyndie Spiegel is a born storyteller–turned–writer; she’s an aspirational voice and an igniter of powerful conversation around self-acceptance, integrity, and joy. She is a former fashion executive, adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology, and holds a masters of professional studies. She is also a TEDx speaker and a certified yoga and meditation teacher. Her honest storytelling, vulnerable self-inquiry, and penchant for swear words have made her a sought-after speaker for conferences, brands, and organizations, and she has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Glamour, Teen Vogue, and HuffPost. She currently lives in New Jersey with her (very handsome) photographer husband, two cats, way too many patterns, and an excessive number of houseplants. She is the founder of Dear Grown Ass Women, an inclusive and highly relatable social community for women 35+, and she is also the author of A Year of Positive Thinking.

https://www.cyndiespiegel.com

Meghan sat down with Alessandra Olanow, NY based artist, mother and grieving daughter. In their hour together Alessandra talks bout her new book, Hello Grief: I'll Be Right With You, and how the writing helped her address her own feelings of loss.

 

Alessandra is a New York-based illustrator. Her broad roster of clients includes major brands such as Bergdorf Goodman, Clinique, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo, Yahoo, and West Elm, and her work has been featured in top publications such as Vogue, Oprah Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Bon Appétit, and Goop. Additionally, she is the Founder of A.OK Body Oil and the Co-founder of a children’s pajama line, Dodo Banana. Through her unique illustrations, Olanow explores the themes of self-forgiveness, vulnerability, and resilience.

Alessandra's newest venture- A.OK body oil can be found here: https://www.feelingaok.com

Full disclosure--She sent Meghan a bottle and it's heaven.

 

 

https://www.alessandraolanow.com

Meghan Sits down with Anna, who talks about the impact of her mother's death when she was just 18, and the tragic death of her son Jack when he was just 12.  In this hope filled conversation, Anna gives us a glimpse into what her grief feels like eleven years later, and graciously lets Meghas ask a question that had pagued her since she was 9.   Anna's Bio Anna Whiston-Donaldson is a popular author and speaker whose New York Times bestselling book, Rare Bird: A Memoir of Loss and Love chronicles the raw, early grief of losing her 12 year old son in an accident. Selected one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2014, Rare Bird resonates with readers looking for hope in impossible circumstances. Her children’s book, A Hug from Heaven, speaks to grieving children from the point of view of a loved one who died.  Anna has been featured in The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Time Magazine, and other publications both print and online. She lives with her family in the Virginia suburbs and blogs at An Inch of Gray. website: annawhistondonaldson.com https://www.facebook.com/aninchofgray instagram: @annawhistondonaldson

 

In 2019, Colin Campbell's two teenage children, Ruby and Hart, were killed by a drunk driver. In the thick of this tragedy, Colin turned to the many books on grief that line shelves but ultimately realized they were unhelpful and failed to provide the insight he desperately sought. Channeling his grief, he wrote his new book (out March 14th) FINDING THE WORDS and a solo performance piece titled Grief: A One Man Shit-Show In LA (March 17-19) and NYC (March 29-April 16). You can find that info here. 

In FINDING THE WORDS (3/14/23; Hardcover; TarcherPerigee), Colin offers practical advice on how to survive in the aftermath of loss. By actively reaching out to their community, performing mourning rituals,and finding ways to express their grief, readers will learn how to live more fully while still holding their loved ones close. Campbell shines a light on a path forward through the darkness of grief. While processing his own grief, Colin realized that much of the common wisdom about coping with loss was unhelpful—that it is a private and mysteriousprocess and that the pain is so great that there “are no words.”While detailing his beautiful and personal account, Campbell also provides practical and actionable methods he and his wife took to navigate their profound grief. Inside, you can expect both a series of journaling prompts as well as concrete action plans to practice active grieving. Unlike in other books about grief, Campbell articulates certain truths such as the act of leaning into the pain, becoming an active protagonist in our journey through grief, and more.

 

To learn more about Colin:

(https://colincampbellauthor.com/

 

Sit down with Meghan as she talks with the outstanding duo fo Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams to talk about the publication of their recent book–What's Your Grief: Lists To Help You Through Any Loss

 

Eleanor Haley, MS and Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C are the co-founders of the online community What’s Your Grief, one of the largest online grief and bereavement support organizations. Both are mental health professionals with a collective 25+ years of experience working with people coping with all types of complicated losses and life transitions. Eleanor and Litsa met while supporting families who had lost loved ones to traumatic andunexpected deaths in Baltimore, MD. Drawing on their personal and professional experience with grief, WYG was built as a resource offering concrete, practical, creative, down-to-earth, and relatable support, founded on the values of psychoeducation and creative coping. It has grown to serve more than 5 million visitors each year. Eleanor holds a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD and Litsa received her master's degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, as well as a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Warwick (UK). They have been interviewed as grief experts for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and New York Times. They co-authored the book What's Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss.

 

 

One of the luckiest things is my life is counting the extraordinary Christie Tate amongst my friends. She is warm, brilliant and an incredible writer.  In this discussion we cover all the aspects of what makes female friendship so beautiful and complicated.  Christie shares the story of the death of her dear friend, which she chronicles in the book, and how that impacts life now.

From the author of Group, a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick, comes a moving, heartwarming, and powerful memoir about Christie Tate’s lifelong struggle to sustain female friendship, and the friend who helps her find the human connection she seeks. After more than a decade of dead-end dates and dysfunctional relationships, Christie Tate has reclaimed her voice and settled down. Her days of agonizing in group therapy over guys who won’t commit are over, the grueling emotional work required to attach to another person tucked neatly into the past. Or so she thought. Weeks after giddily sharing stories of her new boyfriend at Saturday morning recovery meetings, Christie receives a gift from a friend. Meredith, twenty years older and always impeccably accessorized, gives Christie a box of holiday-themed scarves as well as a gentle suggestion: maybe now is the perfect time to examine why friendships give her trouble. “The work never ends, right?” she says with a wink. Christie isn’t so sure, but she soon realizes that the feeling of “apartness” that has plagued her since childhood isn’t magically going away now that she’s in a healthy romantic relationship. With Meredith by her side, she embarks on a brutally honest exploration of her friendships past and present, sorting through the ways that debilitating shame and jealousy have kept the lasting bonds she craves out of reach—and how she can overcome a history of letting go too soon. But when Meredith becomes ill and Christie’s baggage threatens to muddy their final days, she’s forced to face her deepest fears in honor of the woman who finally showed her how to be a friend. Poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, and emotionally satisfying, B.F.F. explores what happens when we finally break the habits that impair our ability to connect with others, and the ways that one life—however messy and imperfect—can change another.

https://www.amazon.com/B-F-F-Memoir-Friendship-Lost-Found/dp/1668009420/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37RCYO7UH0X95&keywords=b+FF+Tate&qid=1675950529&sprefix=bff+tate%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1#customerReviews

 

In this episode, Katie C Reilly sits down to talk double parent loss with Meghan.  The two parentless daughters discuss the hard lessons learned and role grief has played in life changes.

A Former Lawyer found her priorities shifting along with her emotions after her mother's death from ALS and then her father's death from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma soon after. Katie made a shift to writing, and hasn't looked back.

 

Katie C Reilly is a freelance writer based in Oakland, CA. Her writing primarily focuses on women's health, mental health and parenting and has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine, Elle Magazine and The Cut, among other publications. You can find more of her writing here. 

All Signs Point to Paris is the true story of my search for a second chance at love and it all happened because of a wild astrology reading. Natasha had hit rock bottom in almost every way in the fall of 2018: She was a divorced single mom struggling to make ends meet, she'd just broken up with the boyfriend she thought was The One, and, worst of all, her beloved dad was dying. Natasha's life seemed to be going from an all time low to worse. And then her occasionally woo-woo but always there for me best friend stepped in with an answer: a reading with her astrologer, who happened to be one of the most sought-after astrologers in the world. Natasha decided to try it, skeptical though she was. Why the f*ck not?, she thought. Whatever else had been guiding me was NOT working.

We don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but that reading led Natasha to search, very seriously, for hot soulmate: a man born in Paris on November 2, 1968. That date was aligned with her astrological point of destiny. It also happened to be Natasha's ex boyfriend’s exact birthday and birthplace. But she’d decided (for very good reasons) he could not and would not be The One. She became hell-bent on finding every other man who might be. It took almost a year, and a lot of help from friends, family, and even strangers around the world, but finally, in October of 2019, she was ready to pack my bags for Paris. She had found, if you can believe it, fifteen potential soulmates to meet. Natasha's older sister and two of my best friends (including the one who started all this in the first place!) came with her to Paris, riding shotgun on her search for love, each for their own reasons. It was the perfect plan. What could possibly go wrong?

https://natashasizlo.com