In this heartfelt episode of Journey from Grief to Healing, Dr. Ray Calabrese guides listeners through the transformative process of overcoming deep sorrow and loss. Drawing on personal stories and evocative poetry, the episode explores how shifting focus from personal pain to the interconnected beauty of life can spark the journey toward healing. Whether you’re mourning the loss of a loved one or struggling with heartbreak, this podcast offers compassionate insights and practical wisdom to help you rediscover hope, embrace resilience, and take the first steps toward a renewed life.
hope
There is Always Hope
Always try to keep a patch of sky above your life.”― Marcel Proust
What Is To Come ~ A Poem by William Ernest Henley
What Is To Come
William Ernest Henley
What is to come we know not. But we know
That what has been was good–was good to show,
Better to hide, and best of all to bear.
We are the masters of the days that were:
We have lived, we have loved, we have suffered . . . even so.
Shall we not take the ebb who had the flow?
Life was our friend. Now, if it be our foe –
Dear, though it spoil and break us!–need we care
What is to come?
Let the great winds their worst and wildest blow,
Or the gold weather round us mellow slow:
We have fulfilled ourselves, and we can dare
And we can conquer, though we may not share
In the rich quiet of the afterglow
What is to come.
Podcast Title: The Quiet Work of Healing: How Grief Heals Without You Noticing
Podcast Title: The Quiet Work of Healing: How Grief Heals Without You Noticing
Healing from grief is often invisible but always ongoing. Even when you don’t feel it, your mind, heart, and body are working to restore balance. In this episode, we explore how healing works quietly, like nature—persistent, steady, and built into us. Through real-life stories, we’ll see how small acts, like gardening or running, help us move forward with grief. Plus, we’ll reflect on Wendell Berry’s poem The Peace of Wild Things, a reminder that healing is happening, even when we can’t see it.
Acting As If – A Path Through Grief (Season 2, Episode 6)
🎙️ Acting As If – A Path Through Grief (Season 2, Episode 6)
Feeling stuck in grief? Imagine being trapped, like a car sinking into the sand, unable to move forward. In this episode, we explore the power of “acting as if”—a transformative mindset that helps us take small, intentional steps toward healing, even when we don’t feel ready.
Through real-life stories, psychological insights, and practical strategies, you’ll learn how simple actions—like volunteering, taking a walk, or reaching out—can shift your emotions and guide you toward hope. Plus, we close with Adam Zagajewski’s profound poem Try to Praise the Mutilated World, reminding us that even in sorrow, life still offers beauty.
🎧 Listen now and discover how to gently pull yourself out of grief—one small step at a time.
Light it Up
The news can get us down. The naysayers near us can get us down. We have a choice, we don’t have to listen to them. We can believe that the impossible is possible. We can focus on what we can do to make our lives better and contribute in a positive way to the lives of those around us. Darkness only wins when we refuse to shine our light. Light up your space. Light it up!
Infinite Tears, Enduring Hope: A Reflection on Grief
Grief changes us in an instant. The moment we lose someone we love, we step into a world only those who have grieved before us truly understand.
Hope ~ A Poem by Edith Sodergran
Hope
Edith Sodergran
want to let go –
so I don’t give a damn about fine writing,
I’m rolling my sleeves up.
The dough’s rising…
Oh what a shame
I can’t bake cathedrals…
that sublimity of style
I’ve always yearned for…
Child of our time –
haven’t you found the right shell for your soul?
Before I die I shall
bake a cathedral.
On Prayer ~ A Poem by Czeslaw Milosz
On Prayer
Czeslaw Milosz
You ask me how to pray to someone who is not.
All I know is that prayer constructs a velvet bridge
And walking it we are aloft, as on a springboard,
Above landscapes the color of ripe gold
Transformed by a magic stopping of the sun.
That bridge leads to the shore of Reversal
Where everything is just the opposite and the word ‘is’
Unveils a meaning we hardly envisioned.
Notice: I say we; there, every one, separately,
Feels compassion for others entangled in the flesh
And knows that if there is no other shore
We will walk that aerial bridge all the same.
