Can I Help You?
“Joy is more than feeling good—it's a form of resilience that helps you endure having your life broken so you can remake it.” — from Grieving Us
Everyone lives with loss while joy often seems in short supply, elusive.
Have you ever felt that way?
I believe joy is always with us. Even on our darkest days, feeling utterly lost or anxious, it's there, maybe in the shadows, but joy is there.
I didn't always believe that joy is ever-present (it seems too touchy-feely to be true, doesn't it?). Then, after a series of deaths and two years in deep grief, I stumbled into creating what I call Tiny-Come-Back-to-Your-Senses Rituals—mindful, sensory moments that allowed joy to emerge and live alongside the grief. With practice, the joy grew and the grief retreated.
Eventually I designed a life-support system for living with loss and started sharing it with others, including through my book, Grieving Us: A Field Guide for Living with Loss Without Losing Yourself.
Inspiring you to cultivate joy in your life every day is the goal of my writing, speaking, and workshops.
Let's Explore Loss, Joy & Being Mindful
Together
Workshops
I lead workshops on a variety of issues related to death & loss, living mindfully, changing the world through giving, and poetry & writing. For now, I'm focused on serving my readers.
With the publication of my my recent book, Grieving Us: A Field Guide for Living With Loss Without Losing Yourself, I've heard how the stories, strategies, and practices are helping readers navigate their grief and create more well-being in their lives. I've also heard, "Help! Can you show me how to implement what you're talking about?" and "How can I work with you?".
In response, I'm developing a 7-Week Virtual Workshop called, Inviting Joy into Grief: Designing Your Life-Support System for Living With Loss. I'll be launching the pilot program as soon as I have a small group of participants ready to work directly with me and support each other in a mindful process to create a path through grief to greater well-being. Pilot participants will enjoy live group learning & conversations, personal support, and play a key role as co-creators in shaping a workshop that will be transformative for those struggling with grief or feeling lost after a loss, and can be offered more broadly to others in the future.
Join the Wait List to Learn more
Speaking & Interviews
Want me to speak to your group, at a conference, or pull out my microphone to jump on a podcast with you? Let's talk.
I've been a keynote speaker, led workshop & webinar sessions, fallen in love with the public intimacy of radio & podcast chats, and a virtual book tour is in the mix for the coming months.
Talking about ideas that matter, that inspire people to live more mindfully, with joy, and personal impact in the world, is one way I seek to be a resource to others. Sample topics:
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Interviews and Q & A related to my new book, Grieving Us: A Field Guide for Living With Loss Without Losing Yourself.
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The Power of Tiny-Come-Back-to-Your-Senses Rituals: cultivating joy in the midst of grief and finding your way back into your heartbroken-and-still-beautiful life.
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Post-pandemic grief: How to re-enter the world when your heart still hurts (strategies for home and the the workplace).
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Why we need to talk about death and how it helps us embody our one-and-only lives and connect with others more fully.
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Grieving the animals we love: Why the loss of animal companions/pets can sometimes be more difficult than the loss of people.
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Grieving mindfully: Come back to your senses and create a new life after loss.
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Being an Avatar as a grief healing strategy: How to hold on to the ones we love and lost by living for them and ourselves.
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Giving as healing: How people survive loss by helping others through philanthropy, gifts of time & talent, and not-so-random acts of kindness.
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Women, wealth & wisdom—a powerful combination for personal and community change.
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How seeing the world with a poet's sensibility leads to deeper relationships with people and the planet, more effective leadership, and greater joy.
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End-of-life planning beyond the documents--incorporating meaning, impact, and nurturing relationships into the process.
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Writing and poetry as a tool for understanding ourselves.
Let's Talk & Explore the Possibilities
Ask Me Anything
Have questions? Looking for ideas, strategies, or a little clarity?
I set aside limited time each week to talk with people looking for quick help in the areas of:
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Implementing Tiny-Come-Back-to-Your-Senses Rituals or the Life-Support System for Living with Loss shared in my book, Grieving Us.
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Dealing with a specific challenge related to loss or death, mourning, or inviting more joy into life.
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How to support grieving loved ones or employees & colleagues in the workplace.
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Looking for ways to live more mindfully by building supportive habits and mindsets.
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Creating meaningful memorials or tributes to loved ones through strategic philanthropy.
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Changing some corner of the world or a community through thoughtfully planned giving.
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Working on end-of-life planning and seeking advice on the components of a meaningful process.
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Developing a writing or journaling practice as an outlet for grief and/or source for deepening mindfulness and joy.
Let Me Know What You'd Like Help With & Request an Appointment
Books & Writing
For ideas, strategies, quirky stories, or inspiration, please check out my Blog, books, and other publications. Writing is how I make sense of my life as well as the people and places that comprise my world. Perhaps you'll find something to help you make sense of your life, or at least feel supported, expand your thinking, pique your curiosity, or make you laugh. Explore:
About Me
I'm an award-winning poet, author, teacher, and speaker on death & grief, living mindfully, and changing the world, or some corner of it, through philanthropy & thoughtful end-of-life planning.
My dance with loss started early. As a toddler, I survived a house fire that my sisters, sleeping in the same room, did not. Over time I weathered a series of deaths that come with living on the planet awhile. Losing my mother soon after the suicide of a friend, hit me the hardest. I spent two years in loss limbo until I figured out a system for living with my losses.
Professionally, I've spent 25+ years as a philanthropy leader and charitable & end-of-life planning advisor. I've worked with incredibly diverse people looking for meaning after the loss of a spouse, partner, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or beloved animal to illness, accident, suicide, or traumatic death.
Turns out that helping others and giving to a purpose bigger than yourself is good grief therapy for the donors I've served and for me. My charitable work has taken me from Alaskan rainforests to the Andean highlands of Ecuador to the villages of rural Sierra Leone, connecting across cultures—the realities of living with loss, a common thread.
Some charities I've served as an executive, professional advisor, or volunteer:
Did I mention that I'm a lover of all things wild or winged, leafy or petalled, slithery or shelled? With my husband and two cats, I thrive along Northern California's redwood coast, where I can be found hiking, birding, sea kayaking, and trying to live mindfully & with joy every day.
I've been where you are & there's good news.
By being mindful and coming back to your senses, you can create space, in whatever challenges or emotions you may be experiencing, for joy to emerge.
Joy and grief can co-exist.
Over time, you'll lead yourself into a new life that you never asked for, that's still missing the physical presence of someone you love, but is meaningful and beautiful anyway.
Let’s Get in Touch
