Most people in our society celebrate life once a year with lavish birthday parties, happy songs, and sweet gatherings. But, when it comes to bereavement, grief, death, and loss we tend to tiptoe around the subjects. If we followed the philosophy of our ancestors we would appreciate life more by having meaningful conversations about our mortality. To traverse the normally taboo territory of loss, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two authors who have written about life, death and loss in their newest books. In her book, A Heart's Landscape: An Invitation to the Garden of Moments, Susan Lax shares a collection of her morning inspirations. She explores how we all experience grief differently and how being a greater part of a loved one's death offers us a greater life experience. Barbara Becker studied with Zen monks to learn more about life, death, and dying. During the publishing of her book, Heartwood, in which she shares stories from her time as a hospice volunteer, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

About Lisa’s guests: 

Susan Lax earned a teaching degree in creative drama from the Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology, and the Arts in Israel. She taught creative drama at a local elementary school and continued her studies at the Chochmat Halev, where she focused on meditation and Jewish spirituality. Throughout her educational career, Lax also studied Jewish healing, sacred psychology, spiritual practice as a path of healing, healing aspects of death and dying, and guided meditation. Lax currently works as a spiritual counselor specializing in, but not limited to, those touched by illness, grief, and loving through death. She lectures and leads workshops on the topics of awareness and making room for joy. Lax is the author of Morning Inspiration, an email newsletter released three times a week. In addition, she is the co-owner of Naot Footwear, a company that ethically manufactures handmade comfort shoes in Israel.

Barbara Becker is the award-winning author of Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind. She has dedicated more than twenty-five years to partnering with human rights advocates around the world in pursuit of peace and interreligious understanding. Barbara served on the faculty of the Master’s Program in Strategic Communications at Columbia University and is a sought-after speaker on a wide range of topics, including deepening our sense of meaning and the power of owning our stories.