#006 – Loss is something that we often times encounter on an every day basis. It’s easy for us to give ourselves and others permission to grieve the “big things” like the death of a friend or a family member. But grief comes in all shapes and sizes. On this week’s podcast we spoke with Dr. Michael Vogel, a PhD licensed psychotherapist, about all the different ways that grief shows up in our lives and the importance of honoring what it can teach us. How the loss of a dream, a belief, and even a relationship can open us up to something so much more if we are willing to embrace it.

Notable Quotes

“Life is only life because there is the possibility of death.”

“The definition of intimacy is being in a place where we are open to injury. If we can’t get there, then I don’t think we really do have connection with others.”

“When we’re in the midst of sorrow, I do think it does bring us down to those baser parts of ourselves which we can then reflect on. Because when we’re hurting, I think that it diminishes the ego quite a bit and causes us then to start thinking of ourselves in terms of our relationship with others. He (Robert Romanyshyn) uses the idea of the sun and the flower being called to each other. Well, they need each other. Without others, we don’t exist. And I think in the sorrow you’re certainly opening yourself up to the fact that, ‘Okay, I am now powerless. I have no power over what’s going on. So it’s time for me to then to look to others for ways of moving forward in the world.'”