Lauren Marcus, a gifted and immensely talented stage actress and singer, was three days from starting a Sondheim show when she noticed the bald spot.  It was only a bit later that she lost all her hair and was eventually diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, alopecia, an illness affecting almost 150 million people worldwide.

Lauren bravely, and with raw vulnerability, recounts the pain of losing one’s identity, the crux of the matter whenever we receive a shocking, unexpected loss.  

We dive into  the psychological issues that arise at such a time:

·      Dealing with intense emotions like anger, and the need to give ourselves permission to feel whatever arises without guilt or judgment
·      Living in uncertainty, what Zen practitioners call “not knowing”, and what Lauren calls “living in the gray”
·      A phenomenon known as “cancer-shaming",  when one appears bald in public without having that particular disease

But we also discuss the “blessing” aspect of facing immense difficulty:

·      The shining through of one’s true character and resilience in the face of adversity
·      The natural growth of compassion in one’s heart, and the increased ability to empathize with others 
·      Finding new ways to express creativity and the ability to go forward

 There’s also magic in this episode.  Lauren awoke one day from a dream, with “the hook” of a song playing in her head.  With the dream seemingly coming from her future self and the realm of unconditional health, Lauren eventually fleshed out the entire song and recorded it with her band.  Calling it “Funeral”, she dedicated it to anyone going through an immense change in their life.  (It’s so good).

 We’ll go out of the episode on the song, so be sure to stick around to the end.  And then check out the music video of “Funeral”,  which can be seen here.

 Find Lauren at laurenmarcus.com and @laurmarcus on Instagram.