Widow 180 The Podcast with Jen Zwinck
When you become a widow, the heartache can be overwhelming. You feel lost. You feel broken. You feel alone. And you find yourself trying to pick up the pieces of your life and function. But I believe that every widow has the capacity to endure, that every widow has the power to overcome and the determination to create a new life filled with meaning and purpose. The Widow 180 Podcast is about turning tragedy, loss and fear into strength and creativity and a new passion for life. It's about self-reflection and realizing that we only have this one precious life to live and that a new life and a new you is achievable.Each week I will be interviewing widows, incredible survivors of loss. These women have taken the lessons they've learned and the insights they've gained and used them to grow and transform themselves. Some have started businesses, went back to school, run marathons, lost 100 pounds, and moved across the world! They made a choice not to be held down.How did they do it? How did they get through their grief? What's their secret? What lessons can we learn from them that will transform our own lives? How can we write our own story because our story isn't over yet? How can we begin our Chapter 2? I hope that you are as inspired by these women as I am. And maybe hearing even just one story will be life-changing for you.
Widow 180 The Podcast with Jen Zwinck
281. Sorting Through A Spouse's Belongings - A Widow (and Widower!) Roundtable Gets Real About Grief, Clutter, And Letting Go Of Things
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What do you do with the clothes still hanging in his closet?
The shoes that seem to multiply the moment you try to pack them away?!
In this raw, unfiltered Widow 180 roundtable, four guests — three widows and a widower — open up about one of the hardest, least-talked-about parts of loss: deciding what to do with a spouse's belongings.
Lindsay Lawrence, Sarah Fox, Lakisha Lefever, and psychologist Stephen Taylor share their timelines, triggers, and hard-won strategies — from turning t-shirts into memory bears, to donating shoes to strangers in need, to the surprising guilt that can surface over something as small as a comforter or an empty cologne bottle.
They talk honestly about outside pressure and unsolicited opinions from family. As Lindsay puts it: "Until you are walking in my shoes, I really don't need to hear your opinion anymore."
And Stephen offers a piece of wisdom that reframes the whole conversation: "If you don't do something with your grief, your grief is gonna do something to you."
This episode also covers the power of pre-loss conversations, the "widow brain" phenomenon, navigating family traditions around belongings, and two simple questions to help guide any decision:
Will I ever actually use this? and
Where is the right place for it to go?
Whether your loss was sudden or came after years of illness, this conversation offers permission to move at your own pace — because when it comes to grief, there's no right way. There's just your way.
For more support and guidance in widowhood, check out the Widow 180 Workbook series at www.widow180.com/workbooks
What stage of widowhood are you in right now? Not sure? Click here to get the specific help you need for where you are right now on this journey. Go to www.widow180.com/stages
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Questions? Email me at jen@widow180.com