My Dear Community,
Our guest blogger this week is my nephew, David. He sent me this as an email on Easter Sunday after listening to a podcast. The speaker, Nora McInery, made him think about his own grief journey; the difference between closure, moving on, and moving forward.
David is a management consultant in Washington, D.C. His 28 years of active duty in the U.S. Army includes tours in: Turkey, Korea, Germany, Albania, Kosovo, the Pentagon on 9/11, Kuwait, and Iraq.
So, sit back and let David’s thoughts transform your heart.
Closure. Moving on. Is that really what we want when we’re grieving?
I love my Ram 1500 and I enjoy listening to podcasts while I drive through rural Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This Easter Sunday morning as I drove home from sunrise service on the Bay, I started listening to the next random TED Talk.
Thoughts of death and resurrection were still rolling around in the back of my mind, which may partially explain my response, but I just had to write and share this particular podcast because it struck a chord on my heartstrings.
“In a talk that’s by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, writer and podcaster Nora McInerny shares her hard-earned wisdom about life and death. Her candid approach to something that will, let’s face it, affect us all, is as liberating as it is gut-wrenching. Most powerfully, she encourages us to shift how we approach grief. ‘A grieving person is going to laugh again and smile again,’ she says. ‘They’re going to move forward. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve moved on.'”
Listen to Nora’s TED Talk: “We Don’t Move On From Grief, We Move Forward With It”
I hope this TED Talk gives you an opportunity to examine the profoundly human emotion of grief.
As I said, Nora’s insights really spoke to me. My personal Nora-esque Grief Gauntlet included a painful family separation, a combat deployment, my cancer diagnosis and treatment, the end of my military career, and finally, the loss of my brother by the same kind of cancer that claimed Nora’s husband, Aaron.
Grief leaves its indelible mark on us all. We all experience grief and we all know someone who is grieving. This podcast helped me accept my own dark grief journey. Hopefully, my ability to help others dealing with life’s most difficult moments has improved.
David
About Nora McInerny
Nora McInerny makes a living talking to people about life’s hardest moments.
Thanks to another one of my followers who sent this animated video link, also by Nora: “Terrible, Thanks For Asking”
Find out more about Nora, her podcast, and books: Nora McInerny
So, did you take time to listen? What do you think?
- Are you able to find a new perspective on your own grief?
- Are you able to be a better friend for someone who’s grieving?
Please share by replying to this email. Also, hit reply and get connected to David.
Love All around, above, below, to the left and to the right, before you and behind you,
Georgena