The Adventure of Grief: Dr Geoff Warburton at TEDxBrighton

The Adventure of Grief: Dr Geoff Warburton at TEDxBrighton

Psychologist, writer and innovator, Geoff Warburton has spent the last 25 years studying love and loss. Geoff challenges conventional apathy about grief and …

Alana Sheeren believes in love, beauty and the transformative power of grief. After the stillbirth of her son she began writing about her personal journey in…

33 thoughts on “The Adventure of Grief: Dr Geoff Warburton at TEDxBrighton

  1. Excellent. And he certainly practices what he preaches. It must take a lot
    of courage to go up on stage and be vulnerable like that.
    It seems to be hardest to face for heterosexual men, or is that just my
    perception, I wonder why? Fear of showing vulnerability, weakness,
    perhaps?

  2. I think I knew everything Geoff said, but it is so easy to get sucked into
    the vortex of feeling sorry for yourself. I lost my spouse after a two and
    a half year battle to cancer, at the age of 29, with a 21 month in tow.
    During Christmas number 2, and with the 2 year anniversary of his death
    approaching I find it so easy to use his death as an excuse to check out
    and just survive. However, I have a child to raise, and I refuse to model
    for her that only surviving is good enough. Geoff is completely right, I
    have been to hell and back, but actually feeling the emotions, and walking
    through the fire of grief, can bring you to a place of enlightenment, peace
    and gratefulness, if even for only a few moments at a time, that are
    absolutely mind blowing. My husband fought hard for his life, and now I
    fight for mine. I honour my husband by living well, living happy, and
    living fully.

  3. Hi Penny, thanks for your comment. I am so deeply sorry for the loss of
    your son. You have my attention piqued…I would LOVE to hear about the
    travels with your son’s ashes, and about how grief has changed you in good
    ways. There’s a few ways to tell of your experience on my blog. Hope you
    find one that resonates. I look forward to hearing from you. Becky P.S. I
    tried to include the website address but it’s not allowed from this site so
    sent you a reply via YouTube with the link shown.

  4. Way to go Geoff. Love that courage, love that message. My daughter died 3
    years ago (she was 23) and after 18 months of holding it back, I opened
    myself up to a whole new way of living, certain of her blessing. I’ve taken
    (and left) her ashes wherever I travel, started a blog and a Facebook Page,
    Joyful Mourning, to begin the conversation about how grief CAN change us in
    good ways. People want to talk about this stuff!

  5. Hi, Becky, Thank you so much for your compassionate response. I really
    appreciate it. Maybe we can “friend” each other and write more personally?
    How do I access your blog? Many thanks, Penny

  6. Lovely to listen to your calm and heart-felt words again, Geoff. I have
    just lost a very close friend and have tried to keep my heart open
    throughout the process: it hurts but it’s real. Clare Thalmann

  7. a wonderful talk. another counter-slogan to “don’t die of ignorance” could
    be “live through the knowledge of loss.”

  8. Becky, Many thanks for your comments. My son died 4 1/2 years ago, and I
    also scattered his ashes around the world. I’ll check out your blog, too.
    Yes, grief has made me more compassionate, and more embracing the joy we’re
    given here on earth. Dancing a lot helps (I do it in honor of my son, who
    was a DJ, musician, passionate music lover).

  9. Thank you so much for this amazing video. My lovely daughter, Kaycee,
    committed suicide just over a month ago. She was 22. My grief has been
    overwhelming. This talk has given me so much….I’m learning to not avoid
    the pain and the grief..the “abyss.” This is what makes me human. Someday,
    surviving the abyss will give me the courage to live, and “live well”….to
    honor my daughter and the 22 years I had with her. Thank you.

  10. Kristina: Pain/blame…if only. My daughter committed suicide over 20 years
    ago, victim of BPD, age 29. What got me through? The doctors indicted
    parents (cause: poor parenting) Anger. A good thing for me. How dare them.
    Twenty-five years I avoided reading her journals. Her nudging grew
    stronger, resulting in “her” book When Love Is Not Enough Chronicles of
    LauraJo. Her message: “We are all doing the best we can” my message…You
    are not to blame. God Bless…

  11. I am sorry you lost someone so special to you. You are not alone. I lost my
    only sibling six years ago. It’s been hell. But I am still here. Still
    learning. You can’t walk around it, or go over it or under it. You have to
    go through it to get to the other side. Just keep walking. And find people
    you can relate to and talk to who understand. I belong to support groups on
    FB. Do what you have to do, be good to yourself, don’t give up. You are not
    alone.

  12. I understand what she is trying to say but I have to disagree. I don’t
    consider losing a friend or book club grief. I feel like you don’t know
    enough about grief to be speaking

  13. Grief is definitely powerful if you take it in, use it and finally, move on
    (speaking from personal grief, of course). Great talk.

  14. I have had the pleasure (yes, pleasure! in grief work!) of working with
    Alana, and attending her retreat, Picking Up the Pieces, in September 2011.
    If any of her words in this TED Talk resonate with you, I urge you to look
    up her work or contact her. She has a unique ability to listen and to guide
    you – being the leader – while also sharing her own stories and working
    right along beside you. She is wise without being intimidating, caring and
    nurturing without “mothering,” and exudes calm.

  15. Hey Alana!!! How lovely to see you here. What a lovely talk you gave! Thank
    you for sharing your vulnerability with all of us. What a gorgeous human
    being you are and what a gift Benjamin has been to the world.

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