Nick Cave — Loss, Yearning, Transcendence
Here are some experiences to which Nick Cave gives voice and song: the "universal condition" of yearning, and of loss…
All There Is With Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper takes us on a deeply personal exploration of loss and grief. He starts recording while packing up the apartment of his late mother Gloria Vanderbilt. Going through her journals and keepsakes, as well as things left behind by his father and brother, Cooper begins a series of emotional and moving conversations about the people we lose, the things they leave behind, and how to live on - with loss, with laughter, and with love.
“You are not alone across time” -
Bryan Doerries
“Remember,” Bryan Doerries likes to say in both physical and virtual gatherings, “you are not alone in this room — and you are not alone across time.” Ancient stories, and texts that have stood the test of time, can be portals to honest and dignified grappling with present wounds and longings and callings that we aren’t able to muster in our official places now.
The Movement to Bring Death Closer
“If death practices reveal a culture’s values,” writes Maggie Jones, the author of today’s Sunday Read, “we choose convenience, outsourcing, an aversion to knowing or seeing too much.” Enter home-funeral guides, practitioners who believe families can benefit from tending to — and spending time with — the bodies of the deceased.
Ashley Judd: Grief, Love and Naomi
When Naomi Judd died by suicide in 2022, after a long struggle with mental illness, her daughter Ashley found her. In this deeply moving, revealing, and insightful conversation Ashley Judd talks about the trauma she has worked hard to face, the grief she now feels, and how her mother’s spirit is still very much alive in her life.
Let's Talk Death
[with Make Meaning Workshop Founder] Alexandra Vassilaros
In this episode, Alexandra shares how as a writer, she had no words to express the grief she experienced after her husband’s death. Yet today, she looks back and finds the beauty and love her experience brought to her “new self.”
All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs -Christian Wiman
In this poem Christian Wiman recalls the changing beliefs of his friends: this one has a new diet, this one has a new relationship, this one is slipping away, this one is verdant. While doing so, he holds the love for his “beautiful, credible friends” as the thing to hold on to while the planet turns faster.
Poetry From The Gathering -
David Whyte
This year, we were thrilled to host our very first On Being Gathering — a four-day coming-together of the On Being community for reflection, conversation, and companionship…
In this series, poet and author David Whyte explores and unpacks the rich meaning and complexity of everyday words. Each piece is a provocative meditation on meaning, context, and paradox—and serves as an invitation to broaden our perspective. With each word, Whyte makes us wonder, while expertly guiding us along the path of embracing our shared humanity.
Listen to be astounded by ordinary words.
Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness - The Power of Self-Nurturing
Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness - The Power of Self-Nurturing - While we all need to customize meditation, this is particularly important for those living with PTSD or strong, potentially overwhelming emotions. This talk explores how trauma cuts us off from wholeness, and is accompanied by a deep…
Life Interruptus- Navigating the Intangible
All this disruption and dysfunction has us grieving the loss of morality, trust, physical connection, empathy…our humanity. Can the creative process provide a remedy, some relief for our collective sorrow? Devorah and Caren bring the question to Alexandra Vassilaros.
The Conversational Nature of Reality -David Whyte
“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness / to learn / anything or anyone / that does not bring you alive / is too small for you.”
David Whyte reads “Vulnerability” - Brainpicker
“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”
Resilience After Unimaginable Loss - Sheryl Sandburg and Adam Grant
Well, how am I? OK, my husband just die. It’s hard to get out of bed in the morning. But I still have to get my kids to school, still have to keep going.
Shaping Grief with Language - Krista Tippett talking with Gregory Orr
There are places in the human experience where ordinary language falls short but where poetry can find a way in.