Nine Suggestions for Living Well in a Season of Grief

Thank you, friends, for listening to the Pondering Purple podcast. This is a bit of a different episode. I usually cover topics that offer information, insight and inspiration for those who love MKs and those who are MKs. But with COVID-19 upending our world, my Nine Suggestions for Living Well in a Season of Grief will apply to a much broader audience. Grief in its many forms is everywhere these days.


So...most of this episode will be applicable to anyone who is going through a period of sadness and upheaval. And when we come to the short segment in which I speak to just MKs, I'll let you know exactly how far to skip ahead if you're not in that community.


Today's episode is based on an article by the same name: Nine Tips for MKs in a Season of Grief.


If you're a student whose school year has been abbreviated and/or graduation cancelled, you might also be interested in this previous episode: The Emotional Impact of Campus Closures.


This is the list of MK- and TCK-aware international mental health professionals I mention in the episode.


More of my MK-related resources can be found at the following links:

Four ways to make sure you don't miss an episode:

  1. Click subscribe after you find Pondering Purple on the podcast platform of your choice.
  2. Friend and follow me on Facebook--I'll announce new episodes as they release. (Make sure you hit "Follow first" under the "Follow" tab.)
  3. Join The MK Hub, a group on Facebook solely devoted to sharing new materials as I produce them.
  4. Receive email notifications by writing “subscribe to podcast” in the subject line of a message you send to shellphoenix@gmail.com. (I promise--that's all you'll receive. No newsy epistles or cat pictures!)

Please use the media links included with the podcast to share this new resource in your missionary, MK and TCK circles. I'd love it if you also commented on whatever platform you use, so Pondering Purple can be less of a monologue and more of a conversation.

As some of you have asked, I feel like I ought to explain the title of the podcast. It's a nod to the complex, beautiful, sometimes confounding, always life-shaping and ideally life-enhancing effects of growing up in the color swirl of cultures and worlds.

Helpful definitions:

  • MK or Missionaries' Kid - the child of missionaries.
  • TCK or Third Culture Kid - someone who has spent a majority of his/her formative years in a culture other than his/her passport culture. This includes missionaries' kids, military kids, business kids, diplomats' kids, etc.

Music: Bethany J. Dueck.

--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/michele-phoenix/message

Om Podcasten

Michèle Phoenix, international speaker and writer on issues related to Third Culture Kids, highlights her most popular and helpful articles in a format you can consume on the go.