25. #FromGriefToGrowth – Through pain comes purpose
Where do young widows turn to when they find themselves thrown unexpectedly into grieving their partner?
According to the last Australian census, there are more than a million widowed adults in Australia. This is the unfortunate group Michelle Moriarty found herself in after becoming a widow at 38 years old with two young children in tow.
This week I chat to the Grief Connect founder and Agrifutures 2023 Rural Women’s Award Winner about creating support groups and tools to help others on their own grief journey.
This is a chat filled with hope and light, as you hear about Michelle using her platform to educate people about death and grief. I’d love to know what you found most inspiring about her story, share it with me over at @hashtag_death
In this episode we cover:
- The definition of a widow
- The misconceptions about grief and widowhood
- Challenging the stigma for young widows
- Initial exposure to death with grandparents
- Being safe to have conversations about death
- Becoming a widow at 38 with young kids
- Wondering if grief will be permanent
- Over time grief doesn’t lessen but it shifts
- Grief is isolating
- Finding small slithers of hope
- Creating peer support groups
- Winning the Agrifutures 2023 Rural Women’s Award
- Why tools and language are so important in grief
- What grief feels like years on
- How winning an award opened many doors
- Being prepared for death and having prior conversations.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
- #Hashtag Death Instagram: @hashtag_death
- Ways to work with Ingrid: forevernow.com.au
- Ingrid Reiger’s Facebook: @forevernowcelebrant
- Ingrid Reiger’s Instagram: @ingrid_forevernowcelebrant
- Michelle Moriarty LinkedIn: LinkedIn
- Website: www.griefconnect.com.au
More about #Hashtag Death
There are two certainties in life, death and taxes. Death may not come on the 30th of June, but it is something from which none of us is immune. So why not talk about it? Here at #Hashtag Death, we’re dying to talk!!
At birth, there are books, courses, midwives, celebrations. Most popular lists and blogs.
At the end of a life, it goes quiet. Where do you turn?
Meet the experts. #Hashtag Death – because conversations about death and dying SHOULD be trending!!
Listen Now
