
Lindsay Joy Taylor | A Mother's Gift of Joy
Explicit content warning
05/11/21 • 57 min
For this episode, I was joined in conversation by the lovely Lindsay Joy Taylor, the owner of The Joyful Jewelry Box, jewelry and keepsakes to honor and remember your loved ones. Lindsay’s grief story begins early on, her mother was murdered when she was only one and even if she doesn’t have explicit memories of her, the grief and trauma it left on her family made an impression on her throughout her life. Like me, Lindsay is now an advocate for thinking about grief from a different angle than we were taught. She believes it is absolutely possible to feel joy and hold space for your mourning at the same time. In fact, that is one of the messages she hopes to put out in the world through her jewelry line and the grief work she does. Can’t wait for you to meet her!
Episode Resources
If you wanna know more about Lindsay’s work, follow her on The Joyful Jewelry Box Instagram. Also, check out Lindsey’s beautiful products on The Joyful Jewelry Box website.
Jump straight into:
03:22 - Lindsay’s first memory of grief - “I'm a motherless daughter, but more specifically, my mother was murdered when I was only one year old. So naturally, I don't have any explicit memories of her.”
11:17 - Holding space for grief doing the best we can - “We need to engage with and tend to our grief because if not, we're going to pass it onto somebody else.”
20:06 - Getting stuck on grief: Is closure a real thing? - “We never caught her killer. There was a forced resignation in terms of how you pick up life and move forward.”
22:45 - Helping kids understand and tell their loss story - “It was still really helpful for me to feel seen and to feel acknowledged, to be given attention, regardless of whether or not the context was my mother.”
27:20 - Telling your story to people: Should I disclose or not? - “It created this outlet where people think that they have a right to help you figure out your own damn story.”
33:02 - Therapy for therapists: Can I do this? Lindsay’s path in the psychology world - “I felt burdened by the experience. I didn't feel like I was equipping them with skills and so it just became overwhelming.”
45:21 - How The Joyful Jewelry Box was created - “I took a hard left and then decided, instead of just designing jewelry on a whim, now I was doing remembrance and memorial jewelry to help other grievers honor and remember their loved ones.”
About the show
Host Lisa Keefauver, is a grief and empathy activist who holds an extensive grief resume herself, as a social worker, narrative therapist, grief guide, and widow. From CEOs and social workers to best-selling authors, educators, filmmakers, and stay-at-home moms, her guests open up about the complexity, confusion, and even confidence they have gained by navigating a grief journey of their own. To learn more about how Lisa is reimagining grief, sign up for her newsletter, follow on Instagram and Twitter or visit www.lisakeefauver.com today!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For this episode, I was joined in conversation by the lovely Lindsay Joy Taylor, the owner of The Joyful Jewelry Box, jewelry and keepsakes to honor and remember your loved ones. Lindsay’s grief story begins early on, her mother was murdered when she was only one and even if she doesn’t have explicit memories of her, the grief and trauma it left on her family made an impression on her throughout her life. Like me, Lindsay is now an advocate for thinking about grief from a different angle than we were taught. She believes it is absolutely possible to feel joy and hold space for your mourning at the same time. In fact, that is one of the messages she hopes to put out in the world through her jewelry line and the grief work she does. Can’t wait for you to meet her!
Episode Resources
If you wanna know more about Lindsay’s work, follow her on The Joyful Jewelry Box Instagram. Also, check out Lindsey’s beautiful products on The Joyful Jewelry Box website.
Jump straight into:
03:22 - Lindsay’s first memory of grief - “I'm a motherless daughter, but more specifically, my mother was murdered when I was only one year old. So naturally, I don't have any explicit memories of her.”
11:17 - Holding space for grief doing the best we can - “We need to engage with and tend to our grief because if not, we're going to pass it onto somebody else.”
20:06 - Getting stuck on grief: Is closure a real thing? - “We never caught her killer. There was a forced resignation in terms of how you pick up life and move forward.”
22:45 - Helping kids understand and tell their loss story - “It was still really helpful for me to feel seen and to feel acknowledged, to be given attention, regardless of whether or not the context was my mother.”
27:20 - Telling your story to people: Should I disclose or not? - “It created this outlet where people think that they have a right to help you figure out your own damn story.”
33:02 - Therapy for therapists: Can I do this? Lindsay’s path in the psychology world - “I felt burdened by the experience. I didn't feel like I was equipping them with skills and so it just became overwhelming.”
45:21 - How The Joyful Jewelry Box was created - “I took a hard left and then decided, instead of just designing jewelry on a whim, now I was doing remembrance and memorial jewelry to help other grievers honor and remember their loved ones.”
About the show
Host Lisa Keefauver, is a grief and empathy activist who holds an extensive grief resume herself, as a social worker, narrative therapist, grief guide, and widow. From CEOs and social workers to best-selling authors, educators, filmmakers, and stay-at-home moms, her guests open up about the complexity, confusion, and even confidence they have gained by navigating a grief journey of their own. To learn more about how Lisa is reimagining grief, sign up for her newsletter, follow on Instagram and Twitter or visit www.lisakeefauver.com today!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode

Fad Jamal | Poetic Nature of Grief
In this episode, Lisa talks to British-Iranian poet Fad Jamal (Khorsandjamal) about the power of artistic expression in the process of grieving. Fad intertwines her love of nature, the losses she’s faced, both death and non-death, and the poetic notions and sensibilities of her Persian heritage and the Farsi language to explore love and loss in two volumes of poetry - Quixotic Nature and most recently, Reflections and Refractions.
Our conversation was so rich and expansive as we explored what nature has taught her about loss in its various forms and the ways in which metaphor and poetry has allowed her to explore the dark shadows of pain and grief. Fad brings forth such light, wisdom and hope, and even shares a few of her poems with us. I just can’t wait for you to meet her.
Episode Resources
Reflection and Refraction by F Khorsandjamal
Quixotic Nature by F Khorsandjamal
Reimagining Grief Newsletter Sign-Up
Jump straight into
(03:29) - The cherry tree story: Fad’s first experience with grief
(16:39) - Numbness: False beliefs and assumptions about grief
(25:53) - Fad’s poetic Persian heritage and three of her beautiful poems: Numb, Carnival of Dark & Cabin
(35:02) - Writing poetry as a way to cope with loss
(40:30) - Don’t Sweep it under the rug!: How to honor and give space to different types of grief
(48:12) - Looking at darkness in the face and not letting it take over
About the show
If you love deep, honest, authentic conversations, get ready to love Grief is a Sneaky Bitch. Host Lisa Keefauver, is a grief and empathy activist who holds an extensive grief resume herself, as a social worker, narrative therapist, grief guide, and widow. From CEOs and social workers to best-selling authors, educators, filmmakers, and stay-at-home moms, her guests open up about the complexity, confusion, and even confidence they have gained by navigating a grief journey of their own. To learn more about the show and how Lisa Keefauver is reimagining grief, sign up for her not-so-regular newsletter, follow on Instagram and Twitter or visit www.lisakeefauver.com today!
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode

Lisa Keefauver (Host) | Ask Me Anything
About the episode:
You asked and I answered! In this final episode of Season 2, I invited the Reimagining Grief community and listeners of the podcast to ask me anything about grief and loss. I am so incredibly moved by the flood of DMs, comments, and emails I received from so many of you. I take seriously the vulnerability it took you to ask the questions and I did my best to answer many of them and hope in doing so, I will be helping other grievers just like you. I covered 1. Finding a grief counselor, 2. Dating in widowhood (after loss in general), 3. Feeling angry and betrayed, 4. Complicated grief, 5. Grief brain (brain fog), 6. Returning to work, 7. Grieving a friend, 8. Ambiguous loss, 9. Secondary Losses, and 10. Handling the innocent questions.
Episode Resources:
If you want to learn more about Individual Grief Support with host Lisa Keefauver, MSW visit www.reimagininggrief.com/support. If you want to join the GSB Fan Club and be a part of 2 LIVE Q&A Zoom sessions with her and other listeners from around the world, visit www.reimagininggrief.com/gsbfanclub.
Jump straight into:
5:49 - How to find a good grief counselor or therapist.
8:36 Dating in Widhood (or after loss in general)
13:46 Anger and Betrayal in Grief
22:34 Complicated Grief
25:27 Grief Brain
.
30:02 Returning to Work After Loss
38:46 Grieving a Friend
40:55 Ambiguous Loss
43:54 Secondary Loss
46:45 Responding to the Innocent Questions
About the show:
If you love deep, honest, authentic conversations, get ready to love Grief is a Sneaky Bitch. Host Lisa Keefauver, is a grief and empathy activist who holds an extensive grief resume herself, as a social worker, narrative therapist, grief guide, and widow. From CEOs and social workers to best-selling authors, educators, filmmakers, and stay-at-home moms, her guests open up about the complexity, confusion, and even confidence they have gained by navigating a grief journey of their own. To learn more about the show and how Lisa Keefauver is reimagining grief, sign up for her not-so-regular newsletter, follow on Instagram and Twitter or visit www.lisakeefauver.com today!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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