End-of-Life University

Learn some helpful tools for dealing with grief even when it seems out of order or controversial.

In this episode I talk about things I’ve learned from my guests over the past two years about dealing with grief during the COVID pandemic. I share clips from two special episodes and lots of resources to help with grief, particularly “disenfranchised” grief that seems to be occurring frequently in our polarized, angry, judgmental society. Let’s all work on our own grief and show more lovingkindness to others who are grieving right now too!

Listen here:

• What is “disenfranchised” grief
• Why many grieving family members are currently struggling to find support for their pain
• How a community ritual like the AIDS Memorial Quilt can help with collective grief
• Tips for coping with disenfranchised grief
• How to have a daily grief practice that helps you acknowledge grief as an ever-present part of life
• Read books:
  • It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine
  • Sweet Sorrow by Sherry Cormier
  • Present Through the End by Kirsten DeLeo
  • Turning the Corner on Grief Street by Terri Daniel
  • The Invisible Tattoo by Good-Grief.org
  • Map of Memory Lane by Francesca Lynn Arnoldy
• Listen to music:
  • Walking Each Other Home by The Threshold Choir 
  • Rosa Mystica and The Geography of the Soul by Therese Schroeder-Sheker 
  • Graceful Passages by Gary Malkin 
• Play games:
  • Hello
  • The Death Deck
• Watch a film: Speaking Grief by Lindsay Whissel Fenton
• Try the Grief Refuge App
• Feel all of your emotions and learn to embody them (Oceana Sawyer)
• Study your dreams (Joshua Black)
• Write about your grief (Shelley Buck and Kathy Curtis, Megan Devine, Shelby Forsythia, Bruce Sterling)
• Find a community:
  • We Grieve group for men
  • Writing Your Grief group – Megan Devine
  • Gabrielle Elise Jimenez Facebook Group
• Create rituals:
  • Joél Simone Anthony
  • Sacred Dying by Megory Anderson; Memorial Episode
  • Home Funeral Ceremonies by Donna Belk and Kateyanne Unullisi
  • Take a “mini-pilgrimage”
  • Listen to 15-minute guided vigil on grief

• Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
• Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
• Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
• Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference.