It Is fittingly ironic that just a few weeks after I wrote this post about not being able to relate to any grief support books, websites or podcasts, that I listened to the most helpful discussion on grief I have heard since my wife died nearly 5 years ago. The irony is in both the timing and that this was a podcast I subscribe to that is focused on business/tech/society and not on grief.
What happened is that a producer for the podcast, Blakeney Schick, died unexpectedly from a heart attack. She was in her 40s and by all accounts, in great health and physical condition. The hosts began the episode with an obituary and homage to Blakeney Schick. Then they had Esther Perel join as a guest to discuss grief in general, but more specifically, the grief that the close knit podcast team was experiencing.
I’m not going to summarize the session other than to say that everything Esther said resonated with me personally. Everything.
I don’t know if this would have helped me had I heard it when I was deep in the throes of grief, but it was comforting to listen to today and have all of my experiences validated by a psychotherapist who clearly understands grief.
For what it’s worth, I don’t even really like Esther Perel. She’s known for TedTalks and podcasts that focus on sex & relationships. I don’t enjoy listing to her. I have a hard time understanding her accented English and find her typical content uninteresting.
Not this time though.
If you are grieving the loss of a loved one, I highly recommend listening.
Below are links to the episode:
On Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-with-kara-swisher/id1643307527?i=1000623659612
On Spotify