Grief Held in Community

Living Love

Episode 9: Season 2 - Community and friendship can provide the support and comfort to cope with the death of a loved one. In this podcast episode, Beth shares personal stories of how her community created meaningful rituals to honor her husband after he died of cancer. She is joined by her friend, Adam, who brings insights from his training in hospice and Buddhist practices relating to dying and grieving. They explore the challenges of how to make sense of a big loss and how to journey through the times of grief. This conversation can support those going through loss with insights and encouragement to be in “Slow Time.”

Resources and links:

Kinship: A Hub to Amplify the Power of Community: Check out this web site to learn about Beth Tener’s work, focused on designing for connection in groups and communities of all kinds. You can join the newsletter here.

The Geography of Sorrow: Interview with Francis Weller about navigating our losses in the Sun Magazine

Pema Choedron, a Buddhist teacher, author, nun and mother, has written many books and articles about how to relate to difficult times. Adam mentioned her teachings on the wisdom of no hope (or no escape.)

Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - by Sogyal Rinpoche, who shared Tibetan teachings. He said the aim of the book was to “inspire a quiet revolution in the whole way we look at death and care for the dying and the whole way we look at life, and care for the living.”

Narayan Helen Liebenson - The Buddhist meditation teacher who was a helpful guide during a retreat at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA.

Creating Permaculture Gardens and Landscapes - my favorite book called Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway

Collaboration Lessons from the Basketball Court - A blog I wrote about the joy and learnings I got from a regular pick-up basketball game with friends.

Transcript: at Kinship web site.

Audio editing by: Podcasting for Creatives