This episode is tender, unfiltered, and very real.

We're recording live from St. Louis after attending a celebration of life for a dear friend. There's been crying and eating cookies for breakfast. Feeling puffy. Not sleeping. Processing grief in the moment and letting the body do exactly what it needs to do.

We talk about:

• Why crying makes your face swell (and why that might be wise)
• The difference between funerals and celebrations of life
• How ritual anchors grief in the body
• Ambiguous and abstract loss
• Why we need community to metabolize death
• Dia de los Muertos and what it teaches us about joy, remembrance, and culture
• Inviting the dead into our lives instead of pretending they’re gone
• Oxytocin vs. dopamine (and why women especially need connection over consumption)
• Grief massage and touch as ritual

We reference the teachings of Stephen Jenkinson on grief and dying, and Perdita Finn, author of Take Back the Magic, who writes about inviting the dead into prayer and daily life.

This conversation moves from marshmallow cry-face to death literacy to flower crown crafting as grief ritual. It’s honest. It’s embodied. It’s about remembering our people out loud.

If you’re grieving—recently or abstractly—this one is for you.

Be sure to follow me:

​Patreon​: @SolefulSara

​YouTube​ @SolefulSara

​Substack​ @solefulSara

​Instagram​ @soleful_circles.stl

​Instagram Podcast​ @woven_soft.edges.deep.roots

​TikTok​ @sarasole88