After losing your person, the world can start to feel a whole lot smaller. Things you once enjoyed may feel different, and the thought of traveling, trying something new, or navigating unfamiliar experiences without your spouse can feel overwhelming.

In this episode of The Widow's Collective, I'm joined by Tiffany Rampey (co-founder of Widows in the Wild and founder of The Travel More Method) to explore what travel and adventure can look like after loss.

We talk about the emotional challenges of saying "yes" to new experiences, the importance of connection and community, and rebuilding confidence and independence. We also explore the financial side of travel after loss, including how to navigate changing finances, rethink what's possible, and find practical ways to experience more of the world without compromising your financial well-being.

Because experiencing more of life doesn't mean leaving your grief or your person behind.

Connect with Tiffany Rampey:

• Instagram: @rebuilding.joy
• Website: The Travel More Method

Connect with Lauren Lentz:

• Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends
• Website: www.laurenlentz.com

Listen, share, and subscribe to The Widow's Collective wherever you get your podcasts.

The Widow’s Collective | Season Two: The Murky Middle

What does acceptance actually mean when your person has died?

You know they're gone, but there's still a part of you that doesn't want to let that reality all the way in.

Maybe acceptance feels like giving up on the life you thought you'd have. Maybe it feels like admitting just how much has changed, or you're afraid that accepting your reality means letting go of something you're not ready to let go of.

In this episode, we're exploring why acceptance can feel so uncomfortable and confronting in widowhood, what we might actually be resisting, and how to begin making room for the reality of our lives without having to feel okay about what happened.

Because accepting that something is true isn't the same as being okay with the fact that it's true.

In this episode, we'll explore:

• Why you can know your person has died and still instinctively expect them to be there.
• What happens when the permanence of your loss begins to land differently.
• The difference between accepting your reality and approving of what happened.
• Why enjoying your life doesn't mean you're leaving your person behind.
• Four ways to work with the tension around acceptance, including separating what happened from what you believe it means and learning to hold two truths at once.

You'll also find questions to reflect on as you navigate your own relationship with acceptance:

• What am I actually struggling to accept right now?
• What am I afraid accepting it would mean?
• Can I acknowledge what's true without requiring myself to feel okay about it?

You don't have to convince yourself that what happened was okay. You don't have to stop wishing things were different. And you don't have to figure out how to live the rest of your life today.

You can be learning to live with your reality without having to like it.

Big hugs and lots of love.

Work With Me

If you're navigating the murky middle of widowhood and trying to understand who you are, what matters to you, and what comes next, I'd love to support you.

Through my grief coaching and group experiences, I help widows explore the evolving nature of grief, navigate life after loss, and make space for the questions, changes, and possibilities that emerge along the way.

You don't have to have everything figured out to begin exploring what's next.

Website: https://laurenlentz.com

Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends

The Widow’s Collective is a space for honest conversations about grief, identity, and learning to live a life you never would have chosen.

"When life gives you lemons, bring ’em to the table."

Can You Make Room for Joy While You're Still Grieving? | A Conversation with Dana Frost

What if you didn't have to wait until you felt better to experience something good?

In this episode of The Widow’s Collective, I'm joined by Dana Frost, a widow, two-time cancer survivor, creative mind, and the woman behind Joy Scout Project (formerly the Forced Joy Project). She's also the co-founder of Widows in the Wild and the creator of the Book of Stories.

Together, we explore what it means to intentionally create moments of joy while still living with immense grief and pain.

Because when you're navigating the murky middle of widowhood, joy can feel complicated. You can laugh and then feel guilty. You can have a beautiful day and wonder if you're somehow moving too far away from the person you lost. You can want to experience life again while feeling uncertain about who you are becoming.

But what if joy doesn't mean you're no longer grieving? What if it doesn't erase your love or mean you're moving on?

In our conversation, Dana shares her experience with Forced Joy, what it looked like to intentionally create opportunities for joy after her husband's death, and how we can begin making room for experiences that feel good without pretending we're okay when we're not.

In this episode, we explore:

• The murky middle of widowhood and the space between surviving and knowing what's next.
• How the idea of Forced Joy evolved after the death of Dana's husband.
• The difference between forcing yourself to feel happy and intentionally creating opportunities for joy.
• Why taking action can sometimes help us feel more ready, rather than waiting until we feel ready to begin.
• The guilt that can accompany laughter, happiness, and moments of feeling good after loss.
• How to let your life get bigger without making your person's place in it smaller.
• The Book of Stories and the importance of continuing to carry your person's story with you.
• What to consider if you're not ready for joy yet, or simply don't want to force anything.

This conversation isn't about putting on a happy face, bypassing grief, or convincing yourself that everything is okay.

It's about getting curious about what else might be possible, even when grief is still very much a part of your life.

You don't have to know who you're becoming. You don't have to have a plan. And you don't have to feel joyful before you begin.

Maybe you can simply start by making a little room for something that feels good.

Because you are allowed to experience joy and still love and miss your person deeply.

------

CONNECT WITH LAUREN

Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends
Website: laurenlentz.com

You can find information about my grief coaching, Re-Imagine group program, retreats, self-guided resources, and other ways to work with me on my website.

CONNECT WITH DANA

Follow Dana and explore her work around intentionally creating room for joy after loss.

Instagram: @JoyScoutProject
Website: https://www.joyscoutproject.com/

The Book of Stories

Explore Dana's Book of Stories, a meaningful way to preserve your person's stories and continue carrying them with you as your own life unfolds.

Book of Stories: [Insert link to the Book of Stories]

Thank you for being here!

Xoxo,

Lauren

Welcome back to The Widow’s Collective.

After taking a few months away from the podcast, I’m back - and Season 2 is going somewhere a little different.

Season 1 lived in the acute season of grief: the fog, the shock, the survival, and the overwhelming newness of losing your person.

But what happens after that?

What happens when the waves of grief begin to come farther apart...but the space between them isn't necessarily peaceful?

That’s where we’re going this season.

The murky middle.

The space between survival and whatever comes next.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The difference between acute grief and the murky middle
• The metaphor of grief as waves - and what happens when there is more space between them
• The strange experience of noticing more as the shock and numbness begin to shift
• The duality of grief and life existing at the same time
• Wanting things again - and questioning whether you're allowed to want them
• Changing relationships and the loneliness that can come with being further out from the loss
• Anxiety, nervous system disruption, and the loss of safety
• Why the years following survival can feel hard in an entirely different way
• What I mean by re-emergence
• Why this season will explore the messy, complicated space where grief and life coexist

A question to take with you:

What are you noticing right now?

Not what you should be doing.

Not where you think you should be by now.

Just...

What are you noticing?

---
Stay connected

Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends
Website: laurenlentz.com

You can find information about my grief coaching, Re-Imagine group program, retreats, self-guided resources, and other ways to work with me on my website.

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Widow’s Collective, leave a review, or share it with another widow who might need to hear that the space between the waves can be complicated, too.

About Lauren

Lauren Lentz is a Certified Grief Coach, widow, former educator, and host of The Widow’s Collective. After losing her husband, Kevin, in 2019, Lauren found herself navigating not only the devastation of grief, but the complicated process of becoming a different version of herself.

Today, she works with women navigating life after loss, helping them make space for grief while also exploring identity, desire, purpose, relationships, and the life that is still unfolding.

Because grief and life can coexist.

One of the biggest fears many widowed parents carry after the death of a spouse is this:

"Will my child be ruined by this?"

When your child loses a parent, it's natural to worry about what this loss will mean for them long-term. Who will they become because of this experience? What will they carry forward? How do you help them navigate something so enormous while you're grieving too?

In this final episode of Season 1, I sit down with grief specialist, Certified Child Life Specialist, author, and bereaved mother Jessica Correnti to have an honest conversation about parenting through grief after the death of a spouse.

Together, they explore the fears grieving parents carry, what children actually need after loss, how grief shows up differently in children, and why parents don't need to be perfect to support their child well.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Why so many widowed parents fear their child will be permanently damaged by the loss
• The most common worries grieving parents carry after the death of a spouse
• Whether it's okay for children to see a parent cry and grieve
• The difference between healthy emotional expression and emotional overwhelm
• What emotional repair looks like when difficult moments happen
• How children regain a sense of safety after loss
• What children need most from the surviving parent
• How children grieve differently from adults and from one another
• Supporting children with different grief styles
• Common misconceptions about grief in children
• Signs a child may benefit from additional support
• Helpful grief resources and therapeutic approaches for children
• What every widowed parent deserves to know about navigating grief with their child

About Jessica Correnti

Jessica Correnti is a Certified Child Life Specialist, grief specialist, author, educator, and bereaved mother with nearly two decades of experience supporting children and families through illness, trauma, and loss.

After years working in pediatric hospital settings, Jessica founded Kids Grief Support, where she provides grief education, resources, and support to families around the world. She is the author of several children's grief books, including The ABCs of Grief series and Forever Connected. Her work has been featured in Oprah Daily, People Magazine, CNBC, and other national publications.

Connect with Jessica

Website: Kidsgriefsupport

Instagram: @kidsgriefsupport

Books: The ABCs of Grief & Forever Connected

A Final Reflection

If you're a widowed parent carrying the fear that you're somehow "messing this up," this episode is for you.

Your child does not need a perfect grieving parent.

They need a connected one.

Someone who keeps showing up.
Someone who repairs when needed.
Someone who makes space for feelings.
Someone who continues loving them through the hardest season of their lives.

And that may be far more powerful than you realize.

Thank you for being part of Season 1 of The Widow's Collective.

Big hugs and lots of love,

Lauren

After the death of a spouse, many widows don’t just lose the person they love — they also lose their sense of safety, predictability, and trust in themselves.

In this episode, we explore the invisible ways grief impacts self-trust and why loss can leave widows feeling hypervigilant, emotionally unsteady, fearful of future pain, and disconnected from their own inner voice.

We discuss:

• Why widowhood disrupts your relationship with safety and certainty
• The nervous system’s response to trauma & loss
• Hypervigilance, overthinking, and emotional preparedness after grief
• Fear of future loss, attachment, and vulnerability
• The impact grief can have on parenting fears and emotional safety
• Why grief can make it difficult to trust your emotions
• The quiet ways self-trust slowly begins rebuilding over time
• Learning to stay connected to yourself inside uncertainty

This episode is a compassionate conversation for the widow who feels exhausted from carrying fear, second-guessing herself, or wondering why she can no longer trust herself as she did before.

Big hugs, and lots of love.
-Lauren

To Connect With Me

Follow along on Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends

For More Information About Support
Head over to: LaurenLentz.com
Or
Book a free Discovery Call by emailing me: lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com

So many grieving women quietly carry the pressure to do widowhood “correctly.”

To cope correctly.
To heal correctly.
To move forward correctly.
To parent correctly.
To honor their person correctly.

But grief is not a performance.
And widowhood is not something you master perfectly.

In this episode, we explore the invisible expectations many widows carry after the death of a spouse — the pressure to stay strong, stay productive, appear functional, and somehow navigate profound loss in a way that feels acceptable to both themselves and the outside world.

We discuss:
• Why so many grieving people monitor and judge themselves after loss
• How conditioning around emotions and productivity impacts widowhood
• The nervous system’s search for safety after trauma and uncertainty
• Why grief feels so contradictory and emotionally unpredictable
• The hidden exhaustion behind “high functioning” grief
• The quiet ways comparison and self-measurement show up in widowhood
• Why functioning does not mean someone is okay
• The difference between survival mode and healing
• Why grief resurfaces in waves — even years later
• Releasing the pressure to carry grief perfectly

This episode is a reminder that there is no gold star for grieving “well.”

There is no perfect timeline.
No perfectly measured way to heal.
No flawless way to carry profound loss.

There is only your way.

And maybe part of healing is learning how to meet yourself with more gentleness while living inside a life that changed everything.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another widow who may need this reminder today.

With love,
Lauren

To Connect With Me

Follow along on Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends

For More Information About Support
Head over to: LaurenLentz.com
Or
Book a free Discovery Call by emailing me: lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com

In this final episode of the identity loss series, we explore one of the most tender and complicated parts of grief after the death of a partner:

The experience of feeling like certain parts of you only existed because they did… while also slowly realizing that there are still parts of you that remain.

This conversation moves into the layered complexity of relational identity, nervous system connection, emotional safety, and the internal conflict many widows experience when they begin noticing themselves still “here” after profound loss.

Together, we unpack:

• Why certain relationships bring specific versions of us forward
• The grief of losing not only your person, but the version of yourself that existed alongside them
• Why it can feel confronting when others say “you’re still in there”
• The difference between the relationally-activated self and the core self
• Why identity disruption after loss can feel like an identity rupture
• The emotional tension of holding contradictory truths at the same time
• What it means to re-encounter yourself over time
• How identity reorganizes through grief
• Becoming without erasing the person you were with your partner

This episode is not about “finding yourself again.”

It’s about learning how to stay in relationship with yourself through the complexity of grief, change, memory, love, and becoming.

If this episode brought something up for you, please know there is nothing you need to resolve quickly.

You are allowed to grieve what was shaped in love… while also allowing space for what is still unfolding inside of you.

Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Lauren

Connect with Me

Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends
1:1 Coaching + Programs: laurenlentz.com
To schedule a Discovery Call, email me at lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com