Get Griefy With Us: A Grief Week Roundtable on How Loss Shakes Up Family and Community

What happens when you gather a circle of grievers, creators, and grief-literacy leaders around one table and ask them to tell the truth about how loss has reshaped their families, and their lives?

In this special "Grief Week" episode of Grief and Light, we find out.

The first week of December marks Grief Week—a global invitation to slow down, raise awareness, open conversations, and build a more grief-informed world. In honor of this mission, Nina Rodriguez brings together members of the Get Griefy Collective for a roundtable conversation that feels equal parts honest, tender, and unexpectedly uplifting.

Together, Nina and her guests explore how loss ripples through families: the shifting dynamics, the roles we grow into (or out of), and the surprising places where connection begins to mend what grief has fractured.

What emerges is a reminder:
Grief may isolate, but community brings us home to ourselves.
Through creativity, storytelling, mutual witnessing, and the simple act of speaking honestly, this group shows what’s possible when we don’t grieve alone.

This episode is an offering for anyone navigating family changes after loss, for anyone bracing for the holidays, and for anyone who needs to hear that their grief makes sense, that their story matters, and that connection is still possible even in the midst of heartbreak.

============
Timestamps
============
0:05 What is "grief week"?
1:19 Kera Sanchez creates Get Griefy Magazine & Community
3:57 Charlene Lam on Curating Grief
5:58 Angie Hanson on creating Butterflies and Halos
8:26 Liz Quinn on creating the Healing Hearts Podcast
10:22 Amanda McKoy Flanagan on Sol Rising and healing retreats
15:14 Nina Rodriguez on sibling loss and creating Grief and Light
15:24 How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
15:49 Kera: How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
19:02 Charlene: How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
22:25 Liz: How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
25:42 Angie: How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
30:54 Amanda: How Family Dynamics Shift After Loss
35:32 Transforming Grief into Meaning
36:25 Kera: Transforming Grief into Meaning
42:38 Liz: Transforming Grief into Meaning
47:53 Charlene: Transforming Grief into Meaning
55:08 Angie: Transforming Grief into Meaning
58:30 Amanda: Transforming Grief into Meaning
1:03:44 Hard-earned Wisdom for Navigating Grief in a Changing World
1:08:10 Holiday Offerings by the Get Griefy Small Business Collective
1:11:17 Hot Seat Questions

============
Key Takeaways
============
Grief During the Holidays
The holidays can spotlight the empty chair at the table and the new emotional terrain families navigate.
You can honor your capacity and set boundaries around what feels supportive (or not).

The Power of Community
Grief feels isolating, but shared experience dissolves that loneliness.
A grief-informed community is vital for belonging, understanding, and support.
Connecting with other grievers validates your humanity and deepens your ability to move forward with agency.

Family Dynamics After Loss
Loss shifts relationships in profound ways: roles change, tensions surface, and emotional dynamics evolve.
There’s no “right” way to grieve; every family member carries their own story, relationship, and emotional style.
Navigating these differences requires communication, compassion, and grace.

Meaning-Making
Grief can become a catalyst for creativity, advocacy, purpose, or new forms of connection.
Many people find meaning through creating—writing, journaling, art, storytelling, ritual.
Meaning-making doesn’t erase grief; it sits alongside it.

Personal Transformation
Grief often leads to deeper self-awareness, clarity, and reorientation.
It surfaces strengths, vulnerabilities, and truths we didn’t know we had.
It can open portals to purpose, service, and community.

Different Grieving Styles
Intuitive, instrumental and dissonant grieving styles all show up in families.
Understanding your style, and others’, can ease friction and reduce misunderstanding.

Legacy Planning
Talking about death and planning ahead brings clarity, support, and future relief.
Legacy projects help keep memories alive with intention and love.

===============
Connect with our guests & their offerings:
===============

AMANDA MCKOY FLANAGAN: https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/
ANGIE HANSON: https://butterfliesandhalos.com/
CHARLENE LAM: https://curatinggrief.com/
KERA SANCHEZ: https://www.getgriefymagazine.com/
LIZ QUINN: https://bio.site/healing_hearts

=============
Creator + Host: NINA RODRIGUEZ
=============
https://www.griefandlight.com/
  / griefandlight  

===============
Resources:
===============
Grief Tending Toolkit: https://griefandlight.myflodesk.com/g...
Access our online community: https://grief-and-light-community.mn....

Thank you for listening! Please share with someone who may need to hear this.

Disclaimer: griefandlight.com/safetyanddisclaimers