Friends Missing Friends

If you're looking for a film about friendship and grief, look no further! Dan Levy's 2023 film Good Grief is about a man mourning the loss of his husband as his two best friends help him on his journey of grief.

(SPOILER alert: I don't give away juicy details but I do discuss the main character's emotional arc related plot points -- if you don't like to know anything before a film then just be aware!)

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Today I talk to Sydney Bauer about what it’s like to grieve a friend who’s still alive. When she was in high school, her best friend of 9 years abruptly ended their friendship, leaving her reeling. We talk about what that’s like, including:

• How grief isn’t just mourning the past, but the future too
• The importance of friendships
• The long-term effects of losing your best friend at such an impressionable age
• How to set he...

Today I talk to Rob Farquhar, a Sydney voiceover talent and podcaster, about redesigning his life after a major loss.

After the loss of his wife of eighteen years, Rob is moving back to be closer to his longtime friends. We talk about adult friendships, making big life changes after loss, and how the good stuff’s on the other side of fear. And a lot of that requires patience, not rushing the grieving or building of new relationshi...

Today I talk to Shannon MacFarlane (she/they). Shannon is a compassionate, creative, kind, and quirky human who enjoys being outside, hoarding eclectic information, scratching dog and cat butts, and snacks. She's working on her PhD in psychology with an emphasis in Thanatology. She supports mourning and grieving humans with art and education.

Learn more about Shannon at www.slobberedlens.com and @slobberedlens (Facebook an...

This episode is a little different and special -- it takes place in the car, on a road trip with my friend Michele!

We talk about:

• the book Big Friendship
• what friendship means to us
• loneliness and creating our own community
• what we want from our life moving forward
• (And lots of laughter and silliness!).

Resources:

Read the book Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close https://www.goodreads.com/book/...

Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with Andrew Gallant, where we talk all about acting and the wild side of grief. (To catch Part 1 of our convo, listen to episode 55!).

A bit about today’s guest, Andrew Gallant: Andrew is an actor and acting teacher extraordinaire. He holds an M.F.A in Acting from DePaul University, a postgraduate diploma from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a BA in Theatre from UW-Madison and is a...

What does acting have to do with grief? A whole lot. The best acting deals with life’s biggest moments and emotions; the ones we often run from in our day to day life. 

Today my guest is Andrew Gallant, actor and acting teacher extraordinaire. Andrew holds an M.F.A in Acting from DePaul University, a postgraduate diploma from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a BA in Theatre from UW-Madison and is a proud member of Acto...

Today I talk to Silvia Freeman, a Corporate Health & Well-being Facilitator / Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, EFT Practitioner, and Breathwork Facilitator. She loves teaching and facilitating workshops, where staff learn different ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, expressing their emotions, and learning how to become emotionally fit and healthy. Silvia teaches how to manage big emotions, how to move through them, especia...

Today is part 2 of my conversation with Jorin Garguilo, a teacher and longtime member of the Chicago improv community (for Part 1, check out episode 52!).

Jorin is a Wisconsin-born, North Carolina-educated, Chicago based improvisor. Jorin began improvising in 1991 at ComedyWorx in Raleigh, North Carolina, and since 2004 has performed, taught, and coached at theaters across Chicago, the country, and the world. He was a founding memb...

Today I talk to Jorin Garguilo, a teacher and longtime member of the Chicago improv community (I've taken his improv classes, and can attest that he's an incredible teacher and performer!).

Jorin is a Wisconsin-born, North Carolina-educated, Chicago based improvisor. Jorin began improvising in 1991 at ComedyWorx in Raleigh, North Carolina, and since 2004 has performed, taught, and coached at theaters across Chicago, the cou...

Today is Part 2 of my conversation with the amazing and talented Tekquiree, the founder of “Thrive Beyond Cancer” (for Part 1, check out episode 50!).

Her bio:

“My name is Tekquiree, and I am a Cancer Thriver. When I was only 34 years old; and 36 weeks pregnant with my son Jace (his name means healer), I was diagnosed with Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer. By the grace of God, I welcomed a healthy baby boy and was healed 4-mon...

Today I talk to Tekquiree, the amazing and talented founder of “Thrive Beyond Cancer.”

Her bio:

“My name is Tekquiree, and I am a Cancer Thriver. When I was only 34 years old; and 36 weeks pregnant with my son Jace (his name means healer), I was diagnosed with Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer. By the grace of God, I welcomed a healthy baby boy and was healed 4-months later. I attribute my healing to my faith in God, my commun...

Please enjoy this re-release of my conversation with Audrey (original episode #27)!

Audrey and I discuss:

• The shocking death of her friend in college, after just cracking open the glorious beginning of their friendship
• How hard it is to not have anyone to grieve the loss with
• The fear of complicating the family members’ grief
• Feeling gaslit by the world
• And more!

TRIGGER WARNING: The topic of suicide c...

As I'm traveling and visiting friends and family, please enjoy this re-release of my interview with Jaymie, "The Tapestry of Female Friendships" (originally episode 15).

On today’s episode, my friend Jaymie and I discuss:

• What the term “best friend” means to us
• The idea of friendships being a tapestry throughout our life
• Grieving the ends of friendships and the seasons of life
• How the world often tell...

Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with artistic director of Green Shirt (and acting/storytelling teacher extraordinaire) Jack Schultz! (If you want to catch part 1, check out episode 46).

Today, Jack and I talk about:

• Using psychedelics to process grief
• How he has had trouble finding groups and resources for sibling loss, and I have struggled finding resources for friend loss
• How disconnected our Western society is
...

Today I talk to Jack Schultz, who has been my acting and storytelling teacher in Chicago through Green Shirt Studio, and helped me to write and create my first-ever one-person show “42 Days of Summer” in 2020. That one-person show helped me to process, navigate, and share my grief after the death of my friend. Today, we talk about storytelling, and how it has helped us to map our grief over the years.

Today, Jack and I discus...

Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with Suzanne Longstreet! (If you want to catch part 1, check out episode 44).

Today, my friend Suzanne and I discuss:

• Forgiving friends versus pulling away
• How we protect ourselves after loss
• How often people dismiss friend-grief
• Not every friend is going to fulfill everything (and how friends respond to different facets of us)

“Each friend represents a world in us, a worl...

Today, my friend Suzanne and I discuss:

• The question “Did I do enough?” after a friend passes away
• How important it is to celebrate friendship and keep your heart open after loss
• The holographic heart (our heart-mind), and how we can love multiple people with our whole heart.
• Creativity after loss

About today's guest Suzanne Longstreet: Suzanne Longstreet coaches high performance mindset shifts that transform si...

Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with Ian Ornstein! (If you want to catch part 1, check out episode 42).

About Ian: Ian grew up in California and moved to Chicago in 2015. He writes (plays, short stories, essays, monologues) and performs (improv in various forms) around town. Right now he's thinking about trying to move through life with less judgement and being open to the various varieties that life presents him.

To joi...