Of course you’ve

judged yourself for how you feel…

cried at work and then felt ashamed…

pushed something down in the name of being strong or good or grateful…

So – this wildly unpolished episode is for you.

Here’s a glorious unraveling and remembering of what I mean when I say grief heals. It isn’t about being fixed. It’s about being fully human or

Experiencing our humanity with awareness and mercy.

I think that’s what healing – experiencing wholeness – actually looks like.

So perhaps

It’s not bad to cry at work.

Perhaps, our big emotions aren’t problems to fix but parts of us seeking to belong.

Just maybe that long list of things we judge ourselves for – you know

Avoiding people, mindless eating, binging tv, sleeping all day, endless learning without doing…

Reveal how we survived.

Survived so we can be here now. ALIVE.

Sigh. – Don’t know about you, but I feel like saying thank you. Thank you to everything I’ve ever done so that I get to be here with you now.

I feel Grief as Love. Grief as witness. Grief as medicine.

Because Grief is big enough for all of it.

So that parts of me once judged get welcomed to the kindergarten carpet – There’s room for all of it

“Hey, rage – you can sit beside me on the pink square.”

Yep. Inspired by Rachel Sachs’ Mind Your Body, I imagine all of us—our whole selves—gathered on one of those big, multicolored kindergarten carpets. No part left out. Not even the ones we try to hide.

Because if love heals, then grief does too.

Come listen. Let’s remember together.

I’ve been practicing what it is to truly welcome what is – how it is.

I’m talking about welcoming what’s outside the shiny and preferred

Like the

Ache. envy. not-enoughness.

Bugs on the skin. Memories that still sting. Joy that expands vision.

I’m exploring grief as living.

Yes. Grief as response to death…

And

As a presence that awakens LIFE.

I’ve been starting my morning, lying on the earth, breathing with my tree (yes, I know how that sounds),

reading two beautiful books—Cured by Jeffrey Rediger and The Hidden Gospel by Neil Douglas-Klotz. And in that stillness, I’ve been meeting parts of myself I usually try to push away. Envy. Rage. Doubt. Dissatisfaction.

Those parts that have been

Hidden. Banished. Disappeared.

Wondering –

What if grief is how we welcome all of it? Not to fix or force change, but to become more whole.

This episode is raw. It’s unfinished. It's real. I talk about mosquitoes, spontaneous remission, ancient language, sibling rage, sacred anger, and the strange beauty of becoming a part of something bigger than myself—bigger than any one of us.

Sensing grief as a bridge

to love, to belonging, to collective healing.

When you listen, you’ll also hear how for me, grief invites the paradox of belly laughter and holy weeping, of sacred rage and deep peace.

And if you’ve read The Guest House by Rumi, you’ll know what I mean when I say this episode is one long welcome to whoever shows up at the door.

May we welcome the grief.May we welcome the life.

Lately, I’ve been feeling lost. When Chelle asked me what I meant, I described what it would be like to watch me - check my phone over and over, scroll mindlessly, walk to the fridge - open and close it a few times, go for a walk, take a nap… Rinse and repeat.

It’s been like playing pin the tail on the donkey - being blindfolded, spun around, but without a donkey for the tail.

Today, I experienced a profound shift and what started as a disorienting sense of lostness feels deeply connecting and life-affirming.

Listen and let’s explore:

• What Eric Simpson calls sacred vs. profane grief
  

• How feeling lost might actually be the doorway to deeper connection
  

• The invitation to love what is… even when it makes no sense
  

This one’s for anyone who’s felt stuck, alone, aimless—or like your inner compass has gone quiet.

Because perhaps,

Grief isn’t a problem to solve…

Maybe, it’s an open-hearted guide with outstretched arms.

If it speaks to you, I’d love it if you’d share it with someone you care about.

Xoxo

I just recorded an episode that is maybe the most personal, most collective one yet.

You know by now—Grief Heals isn’t just a title. It’s a way of life. A lens. A returning. And this week, I explored how grief heals our justice work, our relationships, and the roles we all play—often unknowingly—in systems that divide and dominate.

I pulled from a familiar model: the Drama Triangle.

Victim. Persecutor. Rescuer.

These roles aren’t just interpersonal—they’re deeply systemic. And when we take on one, we often slide into all three.

This week, I invite you into a deeper reflection:

Where have I tried to save someone and lost sight of their power?

Where have I become the bully in the name of justice?

Where has grief been bypassed, ignored, or mutated into resentment, burnout, or judgment?

I talk about that moment I entered a county meeting to “stand up for the people” and ended up steamrolling others. I talk about the pain of watching family members steeped in grief they never got to name. I talk about how even our best intentions can cause harm when we skip over grief and go straight to control.

But more than anything—I talk about how grief can transform the triangle.

Grief that is sacred, not profane.

Grief that slows us down, enters gently, and listens.

Grief that composts our pain into nourishment for us all.

This episode is a love letter to the justice worker, the reformer, the wounded, the weary, the world-builder.

If you're deep in the work and wondering why it still feels heavy—this is for you.

If you’ve been the victim, the rescuer, or the one in power—this is for you.

If you're grieving what’s been done in your name or by your silence—this is for you.

Because as Gabor Maté says: Grief is the antidote to trauma.

And we don’t just carry trauma individually—we carry it collectively.

Let’s grieve together. Let’s name what’s real. Let’s remember who we are.

Thank you for showing up with your whole heart.

Thank you for naming what hurts and walking with love.

Thank you for believing with me that grief is holy, that we belong to each other, and that love—when it shows up real—transforms everything.

With you in all of it,

Lisa Michelle

P.S. The episode includes a few reflections to sit with, or journal through:

Where have I reenacted the triangle internally—with my own inner critic, rescuer, or bully?

Where has my grief gone unnamed—and how is it asking to be heard?

What might it look like to show up as a companion instead of a savior?

Let’s breathe together because we breathe the same air.

I recorded this episode inspired by an experience I had with the red ants in my yard. You heard that right.

For the whole story, listen to this week’s recording. In short, I got impatient, disrupted an ant hill, got stung, and ended up contemplating – Does God Grieve?

I’m not a theologian, philosopher, or anything else that might hint toward expert. And, I’m in awe how grief continues to teach me.

Love me.

Cause me to slow down and notice.

I’m in awe of grief’s attention to detail.

Connection to the whole story.

Grief is my path to oneness – perhaps yours too.

I recorded this podcast specifically for someone experiencing the fresh loss of a loved one. If that’s you, welcome.

I’m gonna keep this brief - and the podcast if brief too.

First. There is nothing wrong with you. You can not get this wrong.

Your body is responding to a profound disruption to your sense of normal and your entire anatomy is impacted.

Two. It’s common to feel guilty to simply live your routine.

Imagine, your person watching you now. Better yet. Imagine that the roles are reversed and you are watching them experience losing you. What do you want for them? Do you want them to stay in a perpetual state of suffering?

What if what you want for them is a permission slip of sorts for you?

You likely want to stay close to your person. How do you do that? What did they care about? What were their values, or the unique impact they made in the world.

Trying on some of those interests and traits is a way that may help you feel close to them.

Three. Being honest with yourself about the unfinished conversations between you does not hurt your person.

Even though in our culture, there is an unexamined belief that talking about the dead is off limits - that somehow it harms them - the truth is what is unfinished stays alive in you.

There is so much more in this episode… It's deeply personal with parts of my story – including how I was with the betrayal I sensed, how to get support, what to say to hurtful comments, and how to stay grounded.

And please know, I’m here – in your corner.

I recorded this podcast specifically for someone experiencing the fresh loss of a loved one. If that’s you, welcome.

I’m gonna keep this brief - and the podcast if brief too.

First. There is nothing wrong with you. You can not get this wrong.

Your body is responding to a profound disruption to your sense of normal and your entire anatomy is impacted.

Two. It’s common to feel guilty to simply live your routine.

Imagine, your person watching you now. Better yet. Imagine that the roles are reversed and you are watching them experience losing you. What do you want for them? Do you want them to stay in a perpetual state of suffering?

What if what you want for them is a permission slip of sorts for you?

You likely want to stay close to your person. How do you do that? What did they care about? What were their values, or the unique impact they made in the world.

Trying on some of those interests and traits is a way that may help you feel close to them.

Three. Being honest with yourself about the unfinished conversations between you does not hurt your person.

Even though in our culture, there is an unexamined belief that talking about the dead is off limits - that somehow it harms them - the truth is what is unfinished stays alive in you.

There is so much more in this episode… It's deeply personal with parts of my story – including how I was with the betrayal I sensed, how to get support, what to say to hurtful comments, and how to stay grounded.

And please know, I’m here – in your corner.

I don’t see grief as something to get over.

I see it as something that carries us back to what matters.

This week on the podcast, I’m sharing the heart of how I understand grief—not just as a response to loss, but as love in motion.

Grief is not the wound.

It’s the hand that tends the wound.

It’s the love that moves toward what hurts…

what was taken…

what never arrived…

and still matters.

In this episode, I meander through how this framework—this living relationship with grief—has shaped my life, my work, my way of being with others.

I share stories. Memories. Moments where grief softened me into truth.

Moments where grief showed me how to stay with what was once unbearable.

I talk about how unprocessed grief mirrors systems of domination—how we often internalize the very violence we long to dismantle.

And how grief, when we let it do its sacred work, can return us to flow, to self, to oneness.

Grief doesn’t only soften — it also disrupts.

It turns over the tables of numbness and performance.

It clears the way for real love to enter.

In that sense, grief is a revolutionary.

Like Jesus, it disrupts… for love’s sake.

This isn’t a lecture.

It’s an experience.

A wandering through the wild garden of love and longing and letting go.

A remembering that grief is not our enemy. It’s our companion.