Welcome to Come to the Brink w/Zoe Flowers. This is a space where we talk about the moments that shake us, the roles we take on, the expectations that weigh on us, and the grief that lingers beneath it all.

Today, I’m sitting with Sophia Hendricks, the only person I have known my entire life. I have watched Sophia become a great wife, mother, daughter, and sister. I also watched her work full-time and take care of her mother as she battled cancer while also tending to her own family.

In this episode, we dive into what it means to hold everyone else’s needs while quietly pushing your own to the side. What parts of yourself do you have to ignore to fulfill that role? And when it’s over—when the person you’ve been caring for is gone—how do you face the grief that comes after?

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt stretched too thin and who has walked through grief with no roadmap for what comes next.

Music Inso-"It's My House"...Diana Ross

Welcome to Come to the Brink w/ Zoë Flowers!!

This is a space for those of us navigating profound life changes—loss, trauma, caregiving, and transformation It’s about the moment or moments when everything we thought was solid crumbles, and we are forced to rebuild.

This flashback episode is formatted a little differently from my other episodes.

It is one of four interviews conducted last year as part of my research on Black women, cults, and high-demand religions. I am releasing it as a bonus episode because the conversation remains relevant.

Welcome to Come to the Brink w/Zoe Flowers. I’m glad you found your way here. This podcast is about those moments in life when everything changes—when the ground shifts beneath you, and you realize the life you knew isn’t the life you’re living anymore.

My first guest is Akinke Lucas, an Integrative Healer and soon-to-be Doctor in Depth Psychology specializing in Integrative Healing. Initiated into diverse Indigenous traditions—including Sangoma, Paqo Kuti Mesa, Ifá, and Hindu spiritual practices—she integrates ancestral wisdom, Drama Therapy, and Jungian and Depth Psychology to guide BIPOC individuals, particularly young adults, through generational and epigenetic healing, fostering deep transformation and reconnection.

Music inspo-"You'll Never Walk Alone" Aretha Franklin

Welcome to Come to the Brink with Zoe Flowers. This is the space where we talk about the moments that shake us, the losses that reshape us, and the wisdom we gather along the way.

In this bonus episode (recorded at 6 am), I unravel some of my childhood memories and spill some familial tea.

Podcast News:

• We have an updated podcast logo. What do you think?
• Our first guest interview airs next week! I am so grateful!!!
• Episodes air every Tuesday at 7:11 a.m. EST
• Episodes will have songs that resonate with the show's vibe or are songs that I just love!!. This week's Music Inspiration is "Message In A Bottle" by The Police.
• Episodes will have links to crisis lines..because none of us should be on the brink alone!https://findahelpline.com/countries/us/topics/grief-loss https://www.crisistextline.org

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Oh. And take a shot every time I say Amazing in this episode! Yikes!

Prima Materia is often considered "the absolute beginning, pure chaos ready to transmute into order, and the divine spark within absolute darkness."

I moved in with my mom to take care of her at the beginning of COVID. I thought I’d be there for a couple of months—but nothing prepared me for what came next.

Our relationship had never been easy, and navigating the pandemic, and what would be her final days forced me to confront the unresolved, the painful, and the complicated love that defined us.

This podcast isn’t about pretending things are okay when they’re not. But it isn’t just about grief either—it’s about figuring out who you are when the roles you once held—caregiver, daughter, witness—no longer define you. It’s about the unexpected moments of joy that sneak in, the small ways we learn to heal, and the radical act of making space for yourself when the world keeps demanding more.