PerfectWhelm with Eric Slivoskey: The Podcast That Helps Enhance Your Life
Welcome to PerfectWhelm—the podcast that helps you navigate the sweet spot between stagnation and burnout, so you can thrive without the overwhelm.
Hosted by Eric Slivoskey, PerfectWhelm is for change seekers—people who are ready to upgrade their personal and professional lives but feel stuck in cycles of stress, self-doubt, or uncertainty.
If you're looking for more clarity, confidence, and momentum in areas like physical and mental health, relationships, career, and spiritual growth, this podcast is for you.
Each episode is built around the 4 I’s:
Information – Insight into what’s holding you back and empowering ideas that ignite that spark for better self-awareness.
Instruction – Practical tools, strategies, and mindset shifts for real progress.
Inspiration – Shared real life experiences and personal stories of resilience, success, and transformation that show us what is possible.
Implementation – Actionable steps to help you apply what you’ve learned, including tips on how and where to get started.
We’ll dive deep into topics like core values, self-limiting beliefs, goal setting, resilience, and personal strengths, helping you build a life that’s both fulfilling and sustainable—right in that PerfectWhelm zone!
It’s time to stop feeling stuck and start making meaningful progress. Tune in and join us on this remarkable journey.
Connect with Eric and access all episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2449323
PerfectWhelm with Eric Slivoskey: The Podcast That Helps Enhance Your Life
68. What We Carry: A Conversation On Death, Dying, and Grief
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In the beginning of my chat with Tom Attig, an author, teacher, speaker, philosopher, and renowned scholar… we discuss what influenced Tom to get into studying and researching death, dying, and grief. Tom describes what shaped him as a teacher and philosopher.
We talk about how grieving the loss of a loved one can take our breath away.
We share about the unfortunate reality that grieving is often met with an underestimation of sorrow. While loss can be extremely devastating in someone’s life, our culture often minimizes how life altering, powerful, and painful losing someone can be. Sometimes there may be an impatience with those who are grieving and the rest of the world may seem to not want to be bothered too much about what is bothering us a lot.
The use of common cliches in response to a death and/or the resultant grief is something that is generally unhelpful to the one suffering the loss.
Tom and I talk about how philosophy has been influential and impactful in supporting grievers. Tom elaborates as well on the idea of loving someone who was alive and then how we continue to love on the person after that individual has died.
We finish up part 1 of this 2 part interview by reflecting on the process of relearning how to live in this life after we’ve lost someone close to us.
Connecting with Tom’s Work:
THOMAS ATTIG holds BA and PhD degrees from Northwestern University and Washington University in St. Louis. At Bowling Green State University, while Chair, he and his colleagues established the world’s first PhD Program in Applied Philosophy. A Fellow of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Death Education from the International Network on Personal Meaning, Death Educator and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Robert Fulton Founder’s Award from the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse.
Tom recently released his new collection, SEEKING WISDOM IN DEATH’S SHADOWS: Collected Writings on How We Grieve [Oxford University Press | December 19, 2025]. It distills a lifetime of listening, reflection, and teaching into understanding and guidance for mourners, caregivers, and counselors.
This is an excellent resource if you want to get a very thoughtful approach to death education and lots of helpful reflections centered on loss and the grieving process. I highly recommend it. If you’d like to get a copy of the book at a 30% discount, then I encourage you to click on the Oxford University Press link, which are listed in my written show notes for this episode.
Oxford University Press currently offers 30% off the book:
More information about Tom and his writings and work can be found here.
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Email: eric@ericslivoskey.com
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