Episode 40: About grief and loss, with Genevieve Deely

In September 2016, two-and-a-half-year-old Penelope Grace Deely died of meningitis within 36 hours of getting sick. For Penny’s mother, Genevieve Deely, it was the greatest tragedy that could have ever occurred. Over the course of time, though, Genevieve took her grief and turned it into profound healing. To the great inspiration of all those around her - including me - Gen continuously shared her words and her voice, eventually publishing a book called “The Birth of Hope.”

Now, during the coronavirus pandemic, we are experiencing an immense collective tragedy. As many human souls are exiting planet earth, I welcome Gen’s voice here on the podcast to bring us comfort, and to help us understand how to move through our grief and loss to a place of deep love. 💗

Listen here on Apple Podcasts.

Listen here on Spotify. 

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Want to practice speaking your truth beyond listening to the podcast? Check out the Speak Your Truth Membership Community HERE!

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Show Notes:   

Recap

• 0:00 - 4:41 - Meeting Gen and why she’s the right voice for us to hear during this pandemic as we navigate a lot of loss
• 4:41 - 8:06 - How I met Gen, at the AMAW acting studio
• 8:06 - 16:13 - Gen’s story: How her daughter Penny died of meningitis when she was two and half, and how Gen has navigated that journey to find peace within the tragedy
• 16:13 - 24:21 - How we can re-frame the idea of loss and death: nothing is ever lost
• 24:21 - 45:26 - The evidence Gen’s had of Penny’s spirit staying closeby, and also how Marianne Williamson became her counselor and dear friend
• 45:26 - 54:30 - Our Speak Your Truth check in
• 54:30 - 56:44 - Gen answers: “What does it mean to you to speak your truth?”
• 56:44 - 1:01:00 - As we experience a collective tragedy, what is no longer sustainable can’t continue… this moment is a portal
• 1:01:00 - 1:04:02 - Elissa recaps coming out about God during the Acceptance-themed episode at the beginning of this month
• 1:04:02 - 1:07:32 - The diamond metaphor: We are all diamonds, but over the course of our lives we get covered in gunk
• 1:07:32 - 1:10:06 - Gen’s words of wisdom for those who are experiencing great grief or loss right now: You don’t have to do it all on your own
• 1:10:06 - 1:13:36 - How to stay in touch with Gen and wrap up
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Resources

You can keep in touch with Gen by following her on instagram: @gendeely.

Gen’s book, “The Birth of Hope,” is available here on Amazon.

If anyone is wondering about Gen’s accent, she grew up in South Africa. We didn’t mention that in the episode, but you might be curious!

The acting studio where I was teaching when I met Gen is the Anthony Meind’s Actor Workshop… aka AMAW. We were at the NYC location, but there are multiple locations. (This studio is amazing, by the way, and Tony is too... we’ll get him here on the podcast soon.)

Gen mentions being certified as a Reiki healer. Here’s some info about Reiki.

Gen and I both learned to meditate with our friend and teacher Emily Fletcher, founder of Ziva Meditation. Listen to my podcast episode with Emily here, and if you’d like to sign up for Emily’s online meditation training ZivaONLINE you can do so here.  

Gen mentions learning about energy from her friend Jamie Butler, the Everyday Medium.

Gen mentioned her counselor and friend Marianne Williamson, who is an acclaimed spiritual teacher, NY Times best seller, and recently ran a campaign to run for President of the United States. Gen got introduced to her work by reading her book Tears to Triumph. (One of her most popular books is A Return To Love.) Marianne is a teacher of A Course in Miracles… Gen told a story about how Penny’s spirit helped turn the pages of her copy of the A Course in Miracles book and you can actually see a video of it here on Gen's instagram (swipe right).

Elissa “came out about God” during episode 38, “About acceptance.”

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Production Credits:

Our Editor is Sean Brennan

Our Graphic Designer is Laura Sills

Our Photography is by Sophie Mathewson

And our theme song is “Waters of Body” by Strange Weather

Please note that Amazon links in the show notes are connected to the Voice Body Connection Associates account. All other partner links are acknowledged. Thank you for supporting the podcast!