How do you stay open to life after loss, especially when life has already surprised you in the worst possible way?

After grief, it can be tempting to protect ourselves by trying to control what happens next. We may want certainty, a plan, or some guarantee that we won't be blindsided again.

But what if meeting life differently after loss doesn't require trusting that everything will work out?

What if it begins with something smaller?

Curiosity. Openness. Wonder. Possibility.

In this final episode of the Summer Shifts Series, Nina Rodriguez and Lisa Keefauver, MSW, explore what it means to remain available to life after loss without pretending that grief is over or expecting a silver lining.

We talk about control, uncertainty, joy, wonder, creativity, agency, and the small ways we can begin noticing life again.

In this episode:

• Why control can become a response to grief
• Why being open to surprise is different from expecting good things to happen
• How loss changes our relationship with uncertainty
• Lisa's daily practice of wonder through breast cancer, widowhood, and multiple losses
• Nina's reflections on her grandfather's death and how it differed from the sudden loss of her brother
• Why possibility isn't toxic positivity
• Moving from “I have to” to “I get to”
• Small practices for noticing beauty and wonder
• How creativity can help us reconnect with aliveness
• The story of Dr. Tasha Faruqui and her family's "suck the joy out of life" motto. (Watch their episode here: When Love Asks You to Let Go: Parenting, G... )
• Mary Oliver's invitation to “pay attention, be astonished, tell about it”
• Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's “Because Today Vulnerable Feels Alive”
• How to make room for joy without asking grief to disappear
• Questions to carry with you after this conversation

Two question we're leaving you with:

1. What is one thing life might be trying to show you right now, if you allow it?
2. What becomes possible when you call it practice?

About the Summer Shifts Series:

This three-part series explores a different way of thinking about getting unstuck and meeting life differently after loss.

This is the third and final episode of the Summer Shifts Series. Missed Parts 1 and 2? Links are below:

Part 1 | Living Into the Questions
What if you didn't need answers to move forward?
Watch the replay: How to Live With Uncertainty After Loss | ...

Part 2 | Shifting Our Stories
What story are you still carrying, and what might you write instead?
Watch the replay: What Stories Are Keeping You Stuck? | Shif...

Part 3 | Meeting Life Differently
How are you letting life surprise you?


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Connect with Nina Rodriguez:
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Website: https://www.griefandlight.com/
Resting Grief Face on Substack: https://griefandlight.substack.com/

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Grief and Light is an independent podcast hosted by a grief-informed guide, not a licensed therapist, doctor, or attorney. Nothing shared here is intended as therapy, medical advice, or legal counsel. Please seek qualified professional support when needed.