Can Creative Arts Help You Heal? Learn Several Ideas to Get You on Your Way
When someone you love dies, the world doesn’t end, even though it feels like it should. When your grief feels too big to carry and too invisible to speak about, there’s something quietly revolutionary about picking up a pen, a paintbrush, a guitar, or a pair of scissors and trying to make something. Not because it fixes anything. But because it helps you survive.
In this Episode:
- 00:22 – Ode to White Castle
- 04:20 – Road trip to Kansas, Home of White Castle
- 05:54 – How Creative Expression Can Help with Grief
- 09:06 – Not Artistic? Tips on How to Use AI Art Generation to Turn Raw Emotions into Visual Form
- 14:39 – How to Say Goodbye, by Sarah Walt Weaver
- 19:14 – Outro
Creative Expression Can Help You Live with Grief
Susan Peterson shares several ideas on how to get started, from art, writing, or music, to even using AI generation. Even those that don’t consider themselves creative can find something they can benefit from.
How To Say Goodbye
Our guest Sarah Walt Weaver, who lost her older sister joins us again to share an essay “How to Say Goodbye.”
Sarah has also found a creative outlet with her comic Adventures with Vrah which often deals with her experience of grief and the aftermath of her sister’s death. Sarah talks about both not being able to say goodbye to her sister and having to say goodbye to her sister’s aged cat, Snibbles.
References:
Resources:
- How to say goodbye – Adventures With Vrah
- How to Write Your Deceased Loved One a Letter – TLC Cremation
- A Guide To Freewriting: Benefits, Steps, Prompts and Tips | Indeed.com
- 5 Power Tools to Reset Grief’s Anger | Psychology Today
- AI painting Generator – Adobe Firefly
- DIY memory quilts from loved ones’s clothes – Heather’s Handmade Life
Road Trippin’ to Kansas
If you listen to our show long enough you know Marianne and Charlie LOVE White Castle burgers. They share the memories that made these burgers special to them, in an era when fast food treats were rare.
Ironically, although White Castle originated in Wichita KS, there are no more stores in the state. But take a look at this NPR article that shares the impact this burger stand made on the fast food market we know now.
If you – like our hosts – just can’t get enough, why not try this White Castle Pie from Big Oven.
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Everyone Dies: and yes, it is normal!
Everyone Dies (and yes, it is normal) is a story about a young boy named Jax who finds something special on the beach where he and his grandpa Pops are enjoying a wonderful day. Pops helps Jax understand that death is a normal part of life. This book provides an age appropriate, non-scary, comfortable way to introduce the important topic of mortality to a preschool child. Its simple explanation will last a lifetime. Autographed copies for sale at: www.everyonediesthebook.com. Also available at Amazon
Mourning Jewelry
We offer a way to memorialize your loved one or treasured pet with a piece of handmade jewelry. When people comment on it and the wearer can say for example “I received this when my mother died” which opens the conversation about this loss. All our jewelry is made with semi-precious stones and beads, vintage beads, and pearls. You can choose between earrings or bracelets and the color family. Learn More
