This is our fourth episode in this “Grief Busting” series with special guest and expert on grief and bereavement, Dina Bell-Laroche. You’ll remember Dina from her chat with me back in November, 2022.   

Today we meander all around myths relating what is grieve-able. We start with a very tender topic of miscarriage and still-birth of children and how we grieve these losses. Dina makes a critical distinction for us: that grief is an internal reorientation of our inner world after a severed attachment; mourning is when we make the grief public. When a child is conceived but lost, we don’t always know how to grieve this loss, or to mourn it. And yet, like so many tender griefs we experience through life, we need to give the loss it’s due so that we can work with it and embody the experience in a healthy way. This leads us to the rituals that helps us experience such life-altering losses, rituals like funerals, and continuing bonds. The work of grieving is all about reconciling the loss into the meaning we make of our lives.

Grief experiences ripple out and land in the hearts of others, creating opportunities for grief in that person. In this way, grief is deeply intrenched in our relationships.

In our meander, we go on to explore other kinds of things that we commonly grieve, and in this way, I hope, show that anything that causes a sense of loss is grieve-able. That really is our main message here – if it hurts your heart, it’s a loss that needs to be tended to. Losses are big and small, but all are worthy of attention and reconciliation, whatever that may look like for you. And also, there is no hierarchy to grief and our feelings of loss… a loss is a loss, and we all feel them deeply.

I hope you enjoy this episode, the fourth of five episodes in our deep dive into grief, exploring how dealing with our grief can deepen our joy. 

Episode Links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Dina’s company is Grief Unleashed

Dina’s blog post outlining her 25 myths about grief, that we are exploring in these meanders

Francis Weller and the Five Gates of Grief

Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Braiding Sweetgrass”

John Roedel, “Upon Departure”

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Please send thoughts and comments to [email protected]

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.