Feels like Healing is a series of conversations between myself Al Lewis and individuals who have turned to creativity as a way of helping them heal.
Our need for healing is universal. However the reasons behind it can be oh so varied; a difficult childhood, a traumatic experience or perhaps a bereavement and our need to process grief.
My search for healing stems from the death of my Dad, who died when I was 21 from Multiple Sclerosis.
For over fifteen years I'd kept a quiet lid on my grief. However when it came to clearing out the last remaining boxes from my Dad's attic, that grief that I'd suppressed came rushing to the surface. It was then that I began to write songs about my Dad. Writing those songs was incredibly cathartic and I realised how useful creativity can be when confronted with the hardest parts of life.
I believe that hearing other people's stories can help us to process ours and that the act of being creative can help turn something seemingly hopeless and incomprehensible in to something beautiful and hopeful.
These conversations are here to provide solace and inspiration and to show you that healing can happen when we take our deepest pain and turn it into a work of art.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feels like Healing is a series of conversations between myself Al Lewis and individuals who have turned to creativity as a way of helping them heal.
Our need for healing is universal. However the reasons behind it can be oh so varied; a difficult childhood, a traumatic experience or perhaps a bereavement and our need to process grief.
My search for healing stems from the death of my Dad, who died when I was 21 from Multiple Sclerosis.
For over fifteen years I'd kept a quiet lid on my grief. However when it came to clearing out the last remaining boxes from my Dad's attic, that grief that I'd suppressed came rushing to the surface. It was then that I began to write songs about my Dad. Writing those songs was incredibly cathartic and I realised how useful creativity can be when confronted with the hardest parts of life.
I believe that hearing other people's stories can help us to process ours and that the act of being creative can help turn something seemingly hopeless and incomprehensible in to something beautiful and hopeful.
These conversations are here to provide solace and inspiration and to show you that healing can happen when we take our deepest pain and turn it into a work of art.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week my guests are Jo Ritchie and Laura McDonagh, the team behind 'Projecting Grief'. Projecting Grief tells the stories of people finding comfort, distraction or hope in a creative pursuit after losing someone they love. After losing her brother Jack in 2017, the last thing photographer Jo Ritchie wanted to do was pick up her camera. But as she started to search for others who had been through a similar experience, she was intrigued to meet many whose grief had been the catalyst for a creation. Fascinated and uplifted by this discovery, Jo began actively searching for people using a creative practice for distraction, relief or an expression and asked to take their portraits.
In 2019, she enlisted the help of writer Faye Dawson to interview sitters and write up their stories. Faye worked on the project for three years before deciding to take a step back from Projecting Grief in 2022.
Laura McDonagh’s mum Anne died suddenly in 2019. Afterwards, Laura felt compelled to write about family, identity and home; to get things down before anything else could be lost. Laura was featured on Projecting Grief in 2020, before joining the team as an interviewer and writer.
You can see more of Jo’s photography at www.joritchiephoto.com
You can find Laura at www.heylauramc.com
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
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You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
