INTERVIEW: Paige sits down with Miki Speer, a grief musician, author, and host, to discuss all things grief, including her own experiences, the different phases, loss privilege, and how to support yourself + others.
At age 13, Miki Speer lost her mother to cancer. Miki pushed this trauma down, claiming “I’m fine” out of fear of standing out when all she wanted to do was fit in. This unprocessed grief lasted a decade until finally, in college, she started experiencing its impact. She began crying at the drop of a hat and her relationships with friends, school, and sports faced negative repercussions. Miki went to a doctor, simply thinking she had a tear duct problem! Instead, she learned her “mystery crying” was years of pent up grief and trauma that hadn't had anywhere to go. She went to counseling and began working through her grief, which inspired the brand she has created today. Through her music, books, and shows, Miki Speer’s mission is to create impactful content that helps people process their grief and teach others how to help grievers.
In this episode, Miki explains what you can do to help yourself + others with their loss, explains the phases of grief, discusses “loss-privilege”, resilience, comparison, and more. Grief looks so different for everyone and it is important to remember these three things:
We all have unprocessed grief, whether that is a family death, the loss of significant experiences due to COVID-19, or a friend moving away. It is important to take pressure off of yourself because any loss deserves respect, time, and sympathy. Avoid comparison and don't dismiss grief just because it isn't as extreme as something else. Let yourself heal, no matter how large or small its impact was.
Grief is hard. We aren’t taught how to be resilient, it is something you train and strengthen as you go through life. Being a support for yourself and others through tough times is key... Miki is a force in teaching us how!
We also talk about…
Miki’s Resources:
It's Hard Resources:
It's Hard is edited by Sather Audio https://www.instagram.com/satheraudio/
Hearts 4 Henry: https://www.instagram.com/hearts_4_henry/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Hearts4Henry?ref=l2-about-shopname