Making Space for Grief

“Suddenly I just didn't know who I was without that anymore. It was a real unmooring. But I think that I felt completely untethered to this world. I had nothing holding me here anymore, and that was really weird. I did not expect that. I think I expected to be sad about my dad being gone, but I don't think I expected—I literally do not know who I am anymore, and I don't know what my attachment is to life because I've lost so much of my context that I didn't even know was that big of my context.”
Karen Shih is a fellow first-generation Taiwanese American death doula (in the making), a triple Gemini, and a deeply devoted dog auntie.
In this episode, Karen shares about the death of her father, which led to her stepping out of her career to honor her grief.
Karen shares, “After my dad died unexpectedly in October of 2015, I completely hit pause on my life (which is a huge privilege on a variety on levels that I think most people can't do or maybe wouldn't even choose to do if they could). I quit my job, watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy, traveled to Taiwan, and eventually left New York and my life there behind. It felt like I stripped my life and identity down to nothing and had to start from scratch. The next 7+ years felt like a slow incubation as I navigated my inner jungle and surfaced a path and myself choice by choice.”
Learn more about Karen Shih at https://www.life-changing-magic.com/
Follow her on IG @shihster
This episode was edited by Nina Maria Iniestra De La Riva and comes to you with the support of Erika Mai T. Apuli from Earth Rooted Assistants.
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