Sinika Calloway: The Healing Journey

Sinika Calloway

Episode Introduction

Do you know that at times of grief, knowing that there are others who have been where you are can greatly help you heal? There is inexplicable power in human connection.  

In this episode of Redefining Grief, I speak with Sinika Calloway about her journey through grief and where it took her in life. Sinika’s life draws a parallel to my life personally and there’s a lot of good things to imbibe from this healing conversation.

Sinika narrates those incidents that led her to a phase of profound grief. She lost her mother to multiple sclerosis when she was eight years old. Two months after her death, her maternal grandfather passed away too. It was when she was getting over this compounded loss that her father passed away due to prostate cancer two years later. Though the death of her mother was anticipated, her grandfather’s was a sudden demise. And her father died in a hospice in another state. 

Losing a loved one brings in pain that’s hard to get over, and when it is sudden and unanticipated, you don’t even have a fair chance to say goodbye. As Sinika shares the painful backstory, she also throws light on something more important. She learned that there are others like her with either the same story as she does, or have experienced the loss and grief that she has in life.

Learn today some healing superpowers that Sinika shares with us. She suggests 4 keys to getting over grief, the number one factor being connection. When you're grieving, you have to connect. The next one is to educate yourself on how to cope and get through the pain. Equally important are self-care and faith. You need a source to get through.

Today, we also talk about Sinika’s professional life and why she started Grief Tees and Things. Listen in to learn the transformational journey of this incredible female entrepreneur!

 

About Our Guest 

Sinika is an author, life coach, and entrepreneur who has fought different battles to reach where she is today. Her success did not come without hard work, faith in God, a support system, and adversity. After both her parents died, she was taken in and raised by her aunt who treated her as her own child. Overcoming poverty, a single-family home, low socioeconomic status, the death of both parents at the age of 8 & 10, and low performing schools, Sinika is an example that faith in God, and determination, along with a strong support system is vital to success. Sinika hopes to be a beacon of hope for others and to inspire people to achieve success in life despite a lack of resources.

Episode Quotes

• “How I beat death, is by allowing myself to be present at the moment with them. And being very aware that this can be our last time together.”- Herdyne [07:21]

• “I feel like just connecting with other people, knowing that you're not alone has been the biggest lesson for me, like, having dealt with the things I've dealt with as an adult with grief.” - Sinika [09:27]

• “We all grieve, but everyone's journey is different. Everyone is unique, and therefore everyone's journey is going to be different.”- Sinika [19:24]

• “If you want to be at a place in your life where you can sip tea with joy, you have to be committed to doing the work that's actually actively, actively, actively healing.” - Herdyne [25:55]

• “If you do not process or come to a place of completion, with the unresolved grief around moving, it would take you into your new season and flip you upside down and spit you out if you don't deal with it. “- Herdyne [29:27]

 

Redefining Grief Pearls of Wisdom, P.O.W., Questions

• What have you learned about yourself since redefining your grief journey? [26:33]

I am not alone. I'm not alone, that there are others who do have a story like mine. And if their story is not like mine, they also know grief, and they also know loss. 

• If today was your last day on earth, and you were granted five words or less? What would it be? [27:18]

For those who are still alive- to never give up; never give up on your dreams or your goals.

• During your hard times, what's that one song that just gets you through? [27:53]

I Am Not Alone by Kari Jobe

 

Episode Time-Stamps

• [12:06] Sinika’s advice for parents or caretakers taking care of God’s children
• [15:56] When did Sinika finally come to a place where she had to look in the mirror and tell the truth about her grief journey?
• [18:12] Sinika explains her full circle grief