Episode 170 - Grief, Writing and the Spoken Word... A Conversation with Melissa Lynne

July 24, 2019 by Darwyn Dave

This week, I have a conversation with Melissa Lynne.

Melissa’s mother died in March 2014 and everything changed in that instant...her priorities, her career, her purpose and passion, her outlook on life and death. She crumbled into a heap under the blankets and shut out the world, where she stayed for almost a year. The thing that brought her back and kept her going was returning to the page, returning to the written word, returning to something that felt like life. The words came through her body and soul and heart and gut and quite literally saved her life. She wrote her way back to a life she needed and wanted to live. She resurfaced with a fearlessness to look grief head on and to feel all of it...the pain, the insanity, the beauty and love, the snotty tears on the shower floor or the shoulder of the kind stranger at the grocery store. She gave herself permission to grieve and trusted herself to feel anything that came.

Today, Melissa’s grief lives in her body, in that place where love and creativity intersect. Where she blesses and honors it. Where it’s fed and watered. Where it’s shown darkness and sunshine. Where it is cherished. Where it leads her one day into the next.

Melissa is co-founder/curator/editor of Grief Rites Foundation, where she encourages the use of art as agency to survive through grief. Connection and storytelling are how she walks beside others who are feeling the loneliness and isolation of grief. She is a death doula and a grief specialist. She is currently writing a grief memoir. Melissa lives in Portland, Oregon with her 3 children, 2 cats and 1 dog. She thrives in words and water and trees and moss and mist.

Instagram: @breatheinbreatheoutlive
Instagram: @griefritesfoundation
Website: griefritesfoundation.org
Facebook: facebook.com/GriefRites

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email - darwyn@dealingwithmygrief.com

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Episode 123 - Grief and Journaling

September 13, 2018 by Darwyn Dave

Often my thoughts get jumbled in my head. I can't seem to keep things straight sometimes, because my mind is a cluttered mess.

A few months a go, I decided to to start writing - journaling if you will - about things I've been thinking about. Mostly grief related topics that I'd like to discuss on the podcast. The idea was to get things down on paper, someplace where all my thoughts would be in one place... a place whre I could come back and process everything that was going on in my mind a particular place and time in life. A spce would be created that was for me and only me where I could write exactly what I'd want and not be judged by others - a place where I could be completely honest.

The process has helped. I have been able to release things that I need to get out in the moment and come back, process my writings and amend my thoughts (maybe). But in the end , it helps me shape my thoughts for the things I should be doing in my life and it allows me to release some stress and give better focus and attention to other areas of my life.

I have designed a journal that fits perfectly in a handback or backpack... details on pricing will be available soon.

Subscribe to this podcast by using one of the following:

Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts
Click here to subscribe on Android
Click here to subscribe via RSS
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Contact me using any of following:

email - darwyn@dealingwithmygrief.com

twitter - http://www.twitter.com/dealwithgrief

web - http://www.dealingwithmygrief.com

voice message - http://www.dealingwithmygrief.com/voicemail

Facebook - https://facebook.com/groups/dealingwithmygrief

Instagram - https://instagram.com/dealingwithmygrief

Music provided by Oren Levine (oren@ohljazz.com)

Episode 117 - Grief and Gumbo, A Conversation with Ellen Threatts

July 04, 2018 by Darwyn Dave

Ellen Threatts is the author of Four Seasons of Love and Grief. A native of Youngsville, LA Ms. Threatts works, volunteers, plays and writes about community, life, loss, healing and loving those around. While working with those who suffer from mental health issues compassion and servitude cemented the idea of her creating a non-profit for grieving adults and children. While still in its early stages pairing the soles of the feet, the soul of healing hearts surrounded by nature’s landscape will keep Ms. Threatts active and engaged.

In our conversation, Ellen speaks about using writing, hiking, church, and memories oh her husband Troy as the ingredients to her grief recovery "gumbo".

Question... How do you feel whem people tell you you look like your deceased loved one. I often want to tell people this but I don't know how it would make them feel. Send me an email at darwyn@dealingwithmygrief.com or leave me a voicemail at http://www.dealingwithmygrief.com/voicemail

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