Grief, Burnout, and Reclaiming Our Lives with Christina Rasmussen

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Have you ever found yourself feeling like everything looks the same on the outside, but everything on the inside of you has changed? If you’ve found yourself checking out of your life in unexplained ways and not able to fully name it, this episode is for you. We talk about the undercover world of grief, burnout, and reclaiming our lives after experiencing the invisible losses that we often overlook and dismiss.

In this episode I get cozy with Christina Rasmussen.

Christina is an acclaimed grief educator, author of Second Firsts and Where Did You Go? Which have been extremely helpful books for my own family as we navigate grief and loss. She is also the host of The Dear Life Podcast and founder of The Life Reentry Institute at lifereentry.com.

I recently signed up for her Life Reentry class, which has helped countless people break out of what she coined the “waiting room” of grief to rebuild our lives. She describes grief as a catalyst for redefining identity, and outlines the process of “reentry” where we return to our lives.

Her work has been featured at ABC News, Washington Post, and the White House Blog. You can find more of her brilliant work at christinarasmussen.com and secondfirsts.com.

Christina’s mission is to change the way we grieve, the way we live, and how we define our potential in this life, and the hereafter.

“When something happens to you, you exit the life you used to have.”

– CHRISTINA RASMUSSEN

What you'll hear (and don't want to miss!)

• How Christina realized she wasn’t leading with love, and what she decided to do about it [6:44]
• The symptoms that can indicate burnout, or not living in alignment [14:19]
• The way that she has been able to transform her grief and loss into a movement that is healing so many other people [21:03]
• What the safe space of the “waiting room” is all about [28:15]
• Christina’s re-entry and the ways that she transforming her life (and how you can too after invisible losses) [32:09]
• Why she is saying no to money and additional opportunities daily, without feeling guilty about it [38:19]
• What her relationship to the book writing process looks like and the biggest discovery she has made during this time [43:11]
• Christina’s best practices and rituals for writing, plus how she stays connected to the creative process [52:19]
• How she is creating a different reality for the world, each and every day [59:24]

Resources + links mentioned:

» Christina Rasmussen

» Second Firsts

» Life Reentry

» Dear Life with Christina Rasmussen

» Dear Life: How Do I Remember My Husband During the Holidays?

» Dear Life: Dr. Rick Hanson: Coming Home to Yourself

» Second Firsts: A Step-by-Step Guide to Life after Loss by Christina Rasmussen

» Where Did You Go?: A Life-Changing Journey to Connect with Those We've Lost By Christina Rasmussen

»  Quote: “If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.” Maria Edgeworth

»  Connect with Christina on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

»  Connect with the Dear Life podcast on Instagram

»  Connect with Seconds Firsts on Facebook

Key Quotes:

• “I don’t think I was leading with love during those years. I was leading with fear, I was leading with anxiety and I was just making sure that my kids had everything they needed.” [7:21]
• “I had lost love in the way that I used to experience it, and I was trying to find it in creating, building, climbing and becoming.” [10:21]
• “The only thing that I knew I had to change was the hardest thing to do, to remove the parts that brought in this dark light, and it changed everything.” [16:47]
• “When something happens to you, you exit the life you use to have and you do not automatically enter a new chapter or a new life. You go into the place in between the two lives.” [29:43]
• “I write about nostalgia, life and the many thousands of losses we experience every day, of being alive and leading with love in every way and in all the places.” [55:47]
• “People are so used to being marketed to and sold to every single day for money, and I want to create a different reality for the world. I have chosen to come back to do this because it matters to me, and it matters to the person who is receiving this.” [59:24]

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