Grief & Happiness

If you've ever believed grief and joy can't coexist, episode 444 of Grief and Happiness will change your mind. Cancer survivor Harriet Cabelly shares the mindset that carried her through diagnosis: it's not what happens to you, but what you do with it. Sitting with pain, not rushing past it, is the real path to a life worth living.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:03) Introducing Harriet Cabelly and her work in grief, loss, and positive psychology(02:34) Viktor Frankl, logotherapy, and the life-changing lessons of Man's Search for Meaning(04:27) Harriet's cancer diagnosis and choosing not to live as a victim of circumstance(10:58) Post-traumatic growth: how difficulty can become the seed of real change(11:55) "Leaving an imprint in the sand" — redefining legacy and paying it forward(12:44) Building community through small, unplanned acts of connection(18:08) Turning to creativity — handwritten cards and nature photography — as an outlet for grief(24:33) Why Harriet chose a creative arts therapist over a traditional support group(26:40) Confronting society's discomfort with grief and its obsession with quick fixesHarriet Cabelly is a licensed clinical social worker in New York focused on grief, loss, and life transitions. A cancer survivor, she blends positive psychology with Viktor Frankl's logotherapy, studied through his Vienna institute, and founded Rebuild Life Now. She has authored several books, including Light Through Darkness and Your To Die For Life, and works as a speaker and facilitator helping clients hold grief and joy together.In this episode, Harriet reframed grief around one idea: it's not what happens to us, but what we do with it, that shapes our lives. Rather than adopting a victim mentality after her diagnosis, she used it to fuel a mission of paying forward the gift of her life. She and Emily discussed how creative outlets like handwritten cards and nature photography can substitute for talk therapy, and why growth only emerges once pain is fully felt. Harriet also challenged society's discomfort with grief, noting people reach for quick fixes instead of sitting with pain. The conversation closed on her image of "leaving an imprint in the sand," capturing that healing happens through small acts of care.Connect with Harriet Cabelly:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

What can you do today to make someone else’s day? What can you do to make your day?Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've ever wondered how one family turned six deaths and a murder into a story of survival, episode 442 of Grief and Happiness is for you. Author Phyllis Karas shares the story behind her memoir Curse of the Blumenthals: a 1935 drunk-driving accident that killed six relatives and the murder her cousin Ronnie committed 18 years later. Her memoir shows how naming our grief, instead of burying it, can hold a family together.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:56) Phyllis Karas's introduction as a journalist, professor, and author of Curse of the Blumenthals(02:05) The 1935 drunk-driving accident that killed six members of her family(05:56) Naming the victims and giving them life back through her writing(07:48) Ronnie's birth four months later — a moment of joy after tragedy(12:41) The murder Ronnie committed 18 years after the crash, and the family's decision to stand by him(15:42) Visiting Ronnie in prison for 13 years, and what it taught her about grief(17:23) The hardest parts to write: the police report and the murder itself(20:13) Why readers are drawn to grief stories, and the response to her book signing(21:04) How the family's closeness endured across generations despite the tragedy(22:24) Drunk driving, justice, and what accountability actually looked like(23:29) Ronnie's life after prison, and the 45 years he lived beyond itPhyllis Karas is a journalist, longtime Boston University journalism professor, and author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestseller Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob and The Onassis Woman, the subject of a Dateline NBC special. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Miami Herald, Boston Magazine, and Moment Magazine. Her latest book, and first memoir, Curse of the Blumenthals, traces three generations of tragedy and resilience within her own family.On this episode, Phyllis joins Emily to discuss that memoir: a 1935 drunk-driving accident that killed six relatives, including three children; the 1954 murder committed by her cousin Ronnie, born months after the crash; and her family's decades-long choice to stand by him through prison and a hard life after. She describes the years spent researching old police reports, how grief echoed across generations in her mother's quiet anxieties, and her decision to finally write the story after Ronnie's death in 2012 — turning inherited grief into connection rather than silence or anger.Connect with Phyllis Karas:WebsiteLinkedInFacebookGet Phyllis’ books!Let's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've ever wondered how a dying loved one's request could become a calling, episode 440 of Grief and Happiness is for you. Ceramic artist Rae Delai shares how a promise to her dying aunt led her to leave nursing and open White Lily Urns, crafting memorial pieces — including a teapot urn for a young woman lost to anorexia and a reef urn that becomes part of the ocean.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:55) Rae's path from 30 years in nursing to becoming a full-time ceramic artist(01:27) How her dying aunt's request for an urn led to White Lily Urns(08:30) Why Australian culture — and even most potters — avoid making urns(13:54) The meditative discipline of clay: why you can't create while angry(14:33) How clients find Rae's work and why most of her urns ship overseas(16:38) The personal stories behind her urns, including a dragon urn for a teen who died by suicide(19:00) Designing a custom teapot urn for a young woman who died of anorexia(22:26) Why ceramics are like crystals — and the surprises every kiln firing brings(24:28) How grieving clients choose an urn in the moment, without overthinking it(25:40) The reef-friendly urn Rae created for her own grief, built to become part of a coral reefRae Delai is the ceramic artist behind White Lily Urns, a memorial pottery studio in Atherton, Far North Queensland, Australia. After 30 years as a nurse in intensive care, midwifery, and palliative care, she took up pottery as a creative outlet — and when her dying aunt asked her to make an urn for her ashes, Rae found few handmade options existed in Australia. That gap led her to leave nursing for a full-time business making custom urns, capturing each loved one's story with input from families. She now sells through her website and Etsy as White Lily Urns, shipping worldwide.On the episode, Rae drew on her nursing background and her craft to discuss death, grief, and the comfort of creating something meaningful from loss. She described Australians' general discomfort with death, even among potters, and how nursing taught her to sit with grieving families without absorbing their pain. She shared personal projects: a teapot urn for a young woman who died of anorexia, a dragon-faced urn for a teen who died by suicide, and a reef urn made for her own grief that dissolves into the ocean. She closed on the centeredness clay demands and the realities of running her business alone.Connect with Rae Delai:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebookYouTubeXPinterestLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've ever felt hijacked by grief at the worst possible moment, Episode 438 of the Grief and Happiness Podcast is for you. Grief guide Sylvia Wolfer reveals why exhaustion, fogginess, and emotional overwhelm are real biological responses to loss — not weakness — and shares the simple scheduling technique that helped her stop being ambushed by grief and finally feel in control. If grief has ever felt bigger than you, this episode will change the way you see it.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:50) Sylvia's personal journey through compound and unattended grief (04:55) Why grief research became Sylvia's lifeline — and the two gifts it gave her (05:46) Reclaiming agency: the scheduling technique that puts you back in control of grief (08:14) Why grief never goes away — and why we wouldn't want it to (11:10) What living in Buddhist countries taught Sylvia about impermanence and loss (13:55) How Western culture leaves us unprepared for grief (18:34) The physical reality of grief: what loss does to your brain, body, and energy (22:37) Why hydration and basic body care are powerful emotional tools (25:17) Grief as a wound: why it needs intentional care, not just time (28:11) The power of showing up for grievers — and how small acts of kindness change everythingSylvia Wolfer is a grief guide, mindfulness practitioner, and movement teacher whose work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and gentle movement. Having lost both parents and two siblings — her father and younger brother before she turned seventeen, and her older brother just before COVID lockdown — she brings profound personal lived experience to her practice. That final loss became a turning point: rather than continue living at the mercy of unattended grief, Sylvia dove into the science of loss and emerged with a framework to help others rebuild steadiness and agency. She offers 1:1 sessions, self-paced courses, and online Pilates, and has been featured across multiple grief-focused platforms worldwide.In this episode, Sylvia shares how immersing herself in grief research gave her two transformative gifts: the reassurance that her responses were entirely normal, and a sense of belonging to a universal human experience. She introduces the practice of grief agency — acknowledging a wave when it rises but consciously choosing when to tend to it, so grief no longer arrives as an ambush. She also explores the physical reality of loss, explaining how grief keeps the body in a state of high alert and why tending to basics like hydration, sleep, and movement is a foundational emotional strategy. Weaving in Buddhist perspectives on impermanence, she reflects on why Westerners are so often blindsided by loss, and closes with a warm validation of community and the life-changing power of not leaving grievers alone in their silence.Connect with Sylvia Wolfer:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramPodcast: Sylvia's VoiceLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

I focus on being kind, but now I’ve realized the importance of receiving as well as giving.Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've ever been told to "move on" from grief, Episode 436 of the Grief and Happiness podcast will change how you think about healing forever. Michael Reed, who lost his wife and both daughters in the Gatlinburg wildfire, reveals why the five stages of grief are a myth and shares the moment he finally smiled at a memory before the tears came.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:04) Introduction to Michael Reed and his story of loss (01:26) Losing his wife and daughters in the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfire (04:01) Why the five stages of grief are a myth (06:11) The taboo around men expressing grief and the power of vulnerability (07:30) How a late-night Facebook post launched his writing career (08:45) Why all grief — from divorce to empty nesting — is fundamentally the same (10:26) The difference between moving on and moving forward (13:48) The moment he smiled at a memory before the tears came (16:06) What makes Michael a natural writer and the courage it takes to be vulnerable (19:18) How dreams and signs from loved ones keep connection alive (24:30) Healing in your grief — not from it (25:54) Where to find Michael's books and free grief resourcesMichael Reed is an author, speaker, and certified grief coach whose work focuses on grief, psychological adaptation, and long-term healing following traumatic loss. On November 28, 2016, he lost his wife Constance and both daughters, Chloe and Lily, in the wildfire that devastated Gatlinburg, Tennessee — a tragedy that became the catalyst for his life's mission. That journey produced his bestselling book The Million Stages of Grief, which challenges the oversimplified five-stage model and honors the deeply individual nature of loss, followed by The Million Stages of Healing and a children's book, The Owl and the Ladybug. Michael is also a certified grief coach pursuing a degree in Behavioral Science, and serves as president of Emily's Grief and Happiness Alliance nonprofit.In this episode, Michael shares the raw philosophy behind his writing — that grief isn't limited to death, but encompasses any significant loss, and that its universality is precisely what connects us. He recounts how a middle-of-the-night journal entry posted on Facebook sparked his entire authorship career, and introduces his newest book, The Million Stages of Healing, built around the distinction between moving on and moving forward — carrying love for those we've lost into each new day. A turning point he describes is smiling at a photo of his daughter Lily and realizing he had taken his first step toward healing. He speaks openly about vulnerability, signs from loved ones, and the particular stigma men face around expressing grief.Connect with Michael Reed:WebsiteInstagramTikTokBook: Michael Reed - The Million Stages of GriefLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief