Pause for…

Why are we so bad at talking about grief? Although things are improving slowly, it does still seem to be the last taboo of mental health. This talk is for those going through grief and anyone who might at some stage need to support friends and family through different types of loss with better understanding –  in other words everybody!

Lizzie is a Speaker, Grief Investigator, Film and Podcast producer.  In her forthcoming book ‘When Grief Equals Love’ she shares her observations on grief including diary entries written following the death of her son Harry, at Helen & Douglas House, in November, 2000.  How Lizzie and her family have learned to live alongside loss, navigating a new landscape and accommodating grief into their lives.  With 21 years of investigative experience, the book also includes interviews from some of Lizzie’s grief community about their own experiences, giving voice to their stories.  It will be published in 2023.

Lizzie says ‘I am passionate about changing the landscape for people who have to face life and work when the rug has been pulled from under them.    With the knowledge that time doesn’t heal, and that people can become stuck in addressing their grief, I help them to start conversations and understand the messy patterns and symptoms of loss; the importance of not judging each other.    My firm belief is that if grief is faced and worked through gradually, if people are well supported, there is a rich seam of energy and loyalty to be found from surviving it and eventually thriving.’

Clare is College Chaplain at Christ Church, Oxford. She grew up in rural Bucks, her childhood more Pony Club than church youth group. Pre-ordination she was a Social Worker specialising in substance misuse. She is married to John, an entertainer, and has three creative sons, the eldest of whom is the illustrator of this book.

Born in 1997, Micah Hayns is a contemporary classical painter from Oxford. He takes the classical techniques and tradition of the old masters, whom he studied at the Florence Academy of Art, and infuses them with a contemporary aesthetic, inspired by street art, abstract expressionism and collage.

Some women of the Old Testament are well known, but many are barely remembered and even when they are we often don’t pause on them long enough to think what we might learn from them. Unveiled, written with frankness and humour and illustrated with striking artwork from a young Oxford-based artist, explores the stories of over 40 women in 40 chapters.