We’re wrapping up our discussion of death with tears, laughter, poetry and an amazing interview with Cristina Bernardo Kullberg who experienced devastating loss and death in 2020, including the sudden death of her 10-month-old daughter, Aviva.

Cristina walks us through her grief journey and how her emotions around and perception of death, the spiritual world and being present have shifted. She also untangles the difference between inevitable pain and optional suffering and shares how Aviva’s legacy lives on with the Aviva Women in Science and She Shines LeadHership programs, and Aviva Day in Cameroon on December 16. 

We also discuss our first listener-submitted question (yay Lauren!) about the interconnectedness of energy, nature, science, life and death. Somehow, we also wander into talk of multiverses, the gospel as compost, the real definition of “religion,” shitty first marriages and a hot take on the Mona Lisa.

Thank you for listening loves, this is a long one . 

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Links from this episode

Open Dreams, Aviva Day & She Shines

• Open Dreams - https://www.open-dreams.org/
  • Holiday Giving Silent Auction Fundraiser for Open Dreams (ends 12/17) – https://www.32auctions.com/opendreams
• Aviva Women in Science – https://www.open-dreams.org/avivawomeninscience
  • Aviva Day + 10th Anniversary of Open Dreams GoFund Me - https://www.gofundme.com/f/37fnd262rc
• She Shines Women’s LeadHership - https://www.open-dreams.org/sheshines

Grief & Bereavement Resources

• Baby Aviva Orangutan Diva: A Jungle Quest to Discover Inner Strength - https://a.co/d/2l7ZeZC
• Hans Kullberg’s Bereaved Father Instagram - @Avivasdad
• It’s OK You’re Not OK-  https://a.co/d/02sJyeC
• Refuge in Grief - https://refugeingrief.com/
• Blue Christmas Contemplative Service @ St. Andrews by-the-Sea Pacific Beach  - https://standrewspb.org/events/2023/12/19/blue-christmas-contemplative-service
  • Blue Christmas service is designed to be a quiet, meditative, and peaceful space in the midst of the holidays to remember those we love who have died; to witness to our complicated feelings; to sit with others who are also struggling. 
  • Service is 12/19 @ 5:30pm, followed by Hunger Supper at 6:30pm.
  • A candlelight vigil for those who have died this year while living on the street in San Diego will follow  at 7:30pm. 

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