Learn how deep listening and poetry are helping transform healthcare and provide an antidote to burnout.
My guest Jenny Hegland is the Executive Director of The Good Listening Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to humanizing healthcare through the healing power of poetry and compassionate presence. We discuss the work of TGLP and the power of sharing our stories and having them reflected back to us in the form of poetry. Learn more at the website:
Read the poem The House Medicine Built here
This episode includes:
- The origin story of The Good Listening Project
- The power of poetry to reflect our deep stories
- Why being heard by someone else is deep medicine
- The synergy between the storyteller and the listener poet
- How TGLP works
- Why grief is the number one concern of healthcare providers served by TGLP
- You don’t have to be skilled at poetry to become a “listener poet”
- The crafts of listening to and writing poems for others can both be taught
- The quality of listening can actually affect the quality of sharing that happens
- How both community and mystery support us when we hold space for others
- What it involves to become a “listener poet”
- How “Caregiver Haven” supports caregivers
We give the gift of staying with; there is nothing to fix. -The Good Listening Project
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Kickstarter campaign for Wild and Holy
- Latest post on Substack: Grief, Creativity, and Growing the Soul
- What Really Matters Podcast
- Explore the poetry anthologies created by TGLP
- View my Patreon tier for Soul Supporters and receive extra reflections as a special bonus
- NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving
- Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death
- Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
- Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
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On Thursday January 17, 2019 we learned of the deaths of two women who have contributed much to our understanding of the sacred in nature and in death. Mary Oliver is a beloved American poet whose love of nature inspired her beautiful verses. Her poems reveal the heart of humanity through the natural cycle of life and death she observed during her time spent in the out-of-doors. She authored many books of poetry including Blue Iris, Wild Geese, At Blackwater Pond, and Why I Wake Early and was honored with numerous awards throughout her career.
Dr. Megory Anderson trained in comparative religions and theology and founded the Sacred Dying Foundation in 1996. She is the author of the books Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life and Attending the Dying. Megory trained many end-of-life caregivers and professionals from diverse medical, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Megory’s presence will be deeply missed by everyone who has been touched by her love and compassion.