Getting Real with Grief

This week, Randi sits down with Risa Forsakowski, teacher and artist, to talk about how creativity can become a companion through grief. They explore how making art can give shape to feelings that are hard to put into words, how to start creating when you’re not sure where to begin, and why you don’t need to be “an artist” to benefit from the process. Whether you’re grieving a loss, supporting someone who is, or simply curious about how creative practice can help us heal, you’ll walk away with gentle, practical ideas for letting creativity hold some of the weight.

Opening a relationship can be a meaningful, exciting choice, and there can still be parts of that change to grieve. In this episode, Randi is joined by Jess Williams, a relationship specialist who works with individuals, couples, and polycules navigating non-monogamy. Together, they explore how to make room for both the possibilities you’re choosing and the things you may miss along the way. They talk about getting honest about your “why,” what to know as you open your relationship, and why “just close it” isn’t always the answer when grief or hurt shows up. From “hard nos” to “sacred nos,” Jess shares insights on boundaries and grief practices to support you through the transition. It’s a conversation about honoring loss within something good, without assuming that grief means you’ve made the wrong choice.

Learn more about Jess' practice and website: www.oakevergreentherapy.com

On this episode, Randi shares about her art installation, a portable grief sanctuary called the Willow Womb. She tells the story behind its creation, explores why she felt called to bring it to life, and describes how it embodies the change she wishes to see in the world around grief tending, ceremony, and intentional endings.

Part immersive artwork, part community ritual space, the Willow Womb invites people to step out of the noise and into a softer, slower relationship with grief. Visitors can enter the sanctuary to rest, remember, create, contribute to the community altar, leave memorial offerings, honor someone or something they have lost, or simply spend time in the presence of what they are carrying.

Randi shares what it means to bring a traveling grief sanctuary into festivals, burns, and community spaces, making room for sorrow in places devoted to connection, creativity, and aliveness. She reflects on the power of creating accessible spaces where grief does not need to be fixed, hidden, or carried alone, and offers a glimpse into her larger vision for a culture in which our losses, transitions, and endings are met with greater intention, imagination, and communal care.

Learn more about the Willow Womb here

In this episode Randi speaks with Yakir Englander about finding hope and direction when two sides are at odds. In this episode, they discuss the sensitive subject matter of Jewish identity and the ways that current Israeli Palestinian politics have shifted the landscape of Judaism.

Dr. Yakir Englander is the Senior National Director of Leadership programs at the Israeli-American Council. He also teaches at the AJR (a rabbinical school) in NY. Originally from the Hasidic community of Israel, Englander obtained his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish philosophy and gender studies. He is a Fulbright scholar and was a visiting professor of Religion at Northwestern and Rutgers Universities, the Shalom Hartman Institute and Harvard Divinity School. Englander’s books about body, gender and sexuality in the Ultra-Orthodox and Zionist-Orthodox communities have changed the discourse on sexuality and gender inside the Jewish religious societies in Israel. After leaving Orthodoxy, Yakir was drafted to the Israeli military, spending most of his service in an elite unit tasked with the identification of human remains. As a result of his service, he joined as a director at Kids4Peace, an interfaith youth movement in Jerusalem and other cities in North America.

How does loss shape our experience of intimacy? Randi sits down with IFS (Internal Family Systems) & sexuality expert Patricia Rich to explore the often unspoken ways grief can affect desire, touch, relationships, and connections to ourselves. Together, they discuss sex and intimacy after the loss of a partner, changes in bodily function or sensation, and how to navigate periods when connection feels difficult or out of reach. Tune into this thoughtful conversation about finding your way through loss while remaining open to connection.

Patricia Rich, LCSW, CST-S (she/her) is a Certified IFS Therapist and Approved Consultant, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor, and originator of a unique integrative model for Self-Led Sexuality. She offers training internationally, provides consultation to professionals and hosts “Self-Led in Bed: An IFS & Sexuality Podcast.

Listen to Self-Led in Bed: An iFS & Sexuality Podcast

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In this heartfelt episode, Randi opens up about a topic close to her heart: navigating motherhood while living with the absence of your own mom. She’s joined by grief coach Susanna Gilbertson, who specializes in supporting others through this exact journey.

Together, they share personal stories, practical coping strategies, and compassionate insights to help you move through significant moments like Mother's Day, the day you live beyond your. mother, and the days your children are the same age you were when she died.

If you are mothering without your mother, even if she's still alive, or if you love someone who is, this episode is for you.

For more information about Susanna Gilbertson, or to connect with her about her work, you can find her at...

https://www.susannagilbertson.com

IG: motherlessmomsgriefcoach

On this episode Randi interviews Julia Walden of Jules in Space about the importance of the environment that a ritual is held in and how aesthetic beauty can set the tone for deeper more meaningful ritual.

They also delve into themes of the essential nature of community and connection in grief work, as well as explore the lost art of mothering and communing together, and ways that Julia is working to reignite this spark through her project- The Sanctuary Home.

Finally- they discuss an upcoming event- reimagining the celebration of Mother’s Day, coming this Mother’s Day weekend 2026

You can connect with Julia on Instagram at @julesinspace or @thesanctuaryhome

On today’s episode, Randi sits down with Joe Dillon of Equitable Mediation Services. Alongside his wife, Cheryl, Joe helps couples navigate divorce through a peaceful, fair, and personalized mediation process.

Joe shares how experiencing his own parents’ divorce as a child inspired his mission to help families do things differently, especially when children are involved. His work focuses on reducing conflict, preserving dignity, and breaking cycles of generational trauma.

https://www.equitablemediation.com/

On this episode, Randi sits down with Kate Manser of Polyamory Therapy to explore the complexities of non-monogamous relationships, especially around charged moments like Valentine’s Day and other meaningful occasions. These days often ask us to “pick” one person, but Randi and Kate unpack ways to thoughtfully attune to each partnership’s needs and values, while also holding clear boundaries and making tender, sometimes tricky choices rooted in what truly matters to you. Whether or not you celebrate Valentine’s Day, this conversation offers grounded tools, reflections, and ideas for showing care across multiple relationships in ways that feel authentic and sustainable.

Sometimes New Year celebrations can be painful. It's a marker of time passing and life moving forward. After loss, this can feel like salt in the wounds. On this episode, Randi reflect son meaningful and practical ways we can honor what we've lost while moving forward in 2026.