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In this episode of The Dignity Lab, Melissa Anne Rogers, an associate pastor and trained marriage and family therapist, shares her journey with grief, both personal and professional. Drawing from her experiences of losing her high school sweetheart and later her husband, she discusses how grief is fundamentally an expression of love rather than something to overcome. Rogers emphasizes the importance of giving grief its proper dignity, understanding its various forms, and recognizing it as a transformative lifelong journey rather than a temporary phase to be exiled.

Episode Resources

• A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing by Amanda Held Opelt
• The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief by Jan Richardson
• Grief Is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss by Lisa Keefauver 
• Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness by Kathryn Schulz
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
• The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying, Nina Riggs
• Spirituality of Grief: Ten Practices For Those Who Remain by Fran Tilton Shelton

Takeaways

• Grief is fundamentally an expression of love, not something to overcome or avoid
• Avoiding grief can lead to anger, depression, and living a less full life
• External barriers to grieving include workplace policies, family expectations, and societal pressures
• Internal barriers include physical fatigue, cultural conditioning, and gender socialization
• Grief is transformative and should be integrated into life rather than treated as a temporary phase
• Understanding grief requires both personal experience and education about different types (disenfranchised, ambiguous, complicated)
• Children grieve differently than adults and may process loss over many years
• Substances, excessive busyness, and other numbing behaviors can

Exploring what it means to live and lead with dignity at work, in our families, in our communities, and in the world. What is dignity? How can we honor the dignity of others? And how can we repair and reclaim our dignity after harm? Tune in to hear stories about violations of dignity and ways in which we heal, forgive, and make choices about how we show up in a chaotic and fractured world. Hosted by physician and coach Jennifer Griggs.

For more information on the podcast, please visit www.thedignitylab.com.
For more information on podcast host Dr. Jennifer Griggs, please visit https://jennifergriggs.com/.
For additional free resources, including the periodic table of dignity elements, please visit https://jennifergriggs.com/resources/.

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