What do you do when grief drops you into the deep end and you can't find the shore?

Sheila Delaney is joined by Laing Rikkers — award-winning author, entrepreneur, and executive coach — whose sister's sudden death sent her searching for a way back to life through nature, poetry, and the simple rituals that hold us together when everything falls apart.

Laing's book Morning Leaves (Red Hen Press, second edition) was born from that journey, written during pandemic lockdown, illustrated by botanical artist Kelly Leahy-Ratting, and offered to the world as an act of radical vulnerability and hard-won courage. The second edition is out now. It's gorgeous.

In this conversation:

• The grief that doesn't go away, but gets integrated
• The rage that lives beneath the even-keeled surface
• The daughter who held up a mirror and asked are you really doing this?
• The moment a reader said it felt like I read your journal
• The crazy beautiful truth Laing carries now — that how we spend our days is a choice, and it takes real elbow grease to choose joy

Find Laing at laingrikkers.com

Instagram @morning_leaves_and_poetry

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/laing-rikkers/