Podcast Launched (Finally!)

About a year ago I announced that a podcast would be forthcoming. Well, I finally did it. And due to some technical difficulties, it launched today rather than a week from today.  Episode #1 of “Beauty In The Breakdown” can listened to right here:

Just in case you’re wondering, my blog, this blog, is not going anywhere. A New Normal  will continue to live right here. Writing is my communication tool of choice. It’s one thing to put my thoughts to the page, and edit and rewrite and obsess over every single word before I hit the “publish” button. It’s quite another thing to “riff” spontaneously (with an outline or bullet points at least) on a topic for almost 30 minutes! I hope I’m up to the task!

Podcast topics will be similar to what I write about here. Loss and grief, and recreating yourself and your “new normal” afterwards. The podcast may cover ground that has already been covered in this blog, but there will be new material as well.

I plan to bring guests to the podcast, people who will be telling their terrible and triumphant grief journey stories. I will also be interviewing “experts” who work in the fields of loss, trauma, and grief, and/or have written on these subjects.

I will always aim to soothe and comfort, but I will always keep it real. I will aim to find a balance between the horrible and the hopeful, because grief includes both. Thus my podcast title, “Beauty In The Breakdown.” This is not an attempt to sugar-coat the experience of grief, but rather to acknowledge the complexity of it.

Since my son’s suicide almost 10 years ago, I’ve been committed to keeping the topics of death, suicide, illness, mental health, trauma and recovery in public view. I’m well aware that these topics can be a real buzz kill.

But if we avoid speaking about these “uncomfortable” topics, then great stigma continues to be attached to them, and those who need our help and support hesitate to ask for assistance, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

We need each other. Especially during the hard times. This blog and my new podcast are meant to shatter the isolation chamber that can rise up around individuals who are struggling. I want my readers – and now, listeners – to feel a sense of community. Even if it’s just with me! That’s how community begins.