A Place For Us

What if angels aren’t just watching over us—they’re walking beside us? What if they’re our friends, our neighbors, even… ourselves? In this powerful episode of Grief 2 Growth , host Brian D. Smith sits down with Rachel Corpus , a woman who claims to be a literal angel in human form . Through near-death experiences, soul-level memories, and an extraordinary spiritual mission, Rachel invites us to r...

Can we really continue our relationship with someone we love after they’ve crossed over? If you're deep in grief, that question isn't just philosophical—it’s survival. In a moving episode of Grief 2 Growth , I had the honor of speaking with Kim Hodous, a mom who’s not only lived through unimaginable loss, but found profound meaning on the other side of it. She lost both her daughter Chelsea and he...

Grief 2 Growth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Some stories don’t make sense until you zoom out. Some moments whisper their truth only after the dust has settled. Yesterday was one of those days. Shayna’s 10th angelversary is just over a month away. Ten years. A full decade of breathing without her. Loving he...

“Sometimes the only way to heal the past is to finally tell the truth about it.” What happens when the person who hurt you most is also the person you most wanted to love you? In this deeply vulnerable story, author and storytelling strategist Kennerly Clay shows us what it means to forgive an absent father—not because he earned it, but because she was finally ready to let go. Through Letters from...

You Are Not Your Body We live in a world obsessed with appearances—youthful skin, strong muscles, symmetrical faces. We use the body as shorthand for identity. We say, this is me. But it isn’t. Not really. When someone we love dies, we grieve the form—the face, the voice, the physical presence. We miss the hugs, the laughter, the way their body moved through the world. But what if the essence of w...

There’s a grief that happens when you lose someone you love. And then there’s the grief of returning to a world that didn’t lose them. The return can feel brutal. Your world has changed. Theirs has not. Maybe you’re walking back into work, sliding into your old pew at church, or trying to keep it together at the school drop-off line. Wherever it is, it probably feels surreal. Like you’re moving th...

What if forgiveness isn’t a gift for them—but for you? That’s the heart of Scott Stewart’s powerful journey—a man who chose healing over hatred, growth over bitterness, and peace over lifelong pain. In this moving conversation on Grief 2 Growth , Scott sat down with host Brian D. Smith to share how he forgave the man who hurt him more deeply than anyone else could: his own father. The same father...

To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. For most of my life, I carried a quiet fear beneath the surface of my faith; a fear of hell. Not just the concept of it, but the unsettling idea that God might actually send people there forever . It didn’t sit right with me. It never had. But I believed it anyway, because I thought I had to. It was what good Ch...

Thank you Kristina God , Julie Neches , Sherry Abdou , Marcy Norman , and many others for tuning into my live video with Sara Redondo, MD ! Join me for my next live video in the app. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. By Brian D. Smith, Grief Educator & Founder of Grief 2 Growth Featuring Dr. Sara Redondo, MD Introduction: Why We Must Talk About...

🌱 Introduction: The Heart Behind the Search When someone we love dies, our world turns upside down. In the silent moments after the funeral, in the stillness of night, we ache for a sign—something, anything—to tell us they're still with us. Grief 2 Growth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Many of us begin to w...

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." – William Bruce Cameron Introduction: The Invisible Threads That Tie Our Thinking When someone says, “That’s just your opinion,” they’re usually dismissing something they disagree with. But what exactly is an opinion? How does it differ from a belief or a conclusion? These words shape how we view the world,...

What if the pain you carry isn’t just your own, but part of something greater that’s asking to be healed together? This idea broke something loose during my conversation with spiritual teacher Blaise Kennedy. We’ve all been taught to heal alone, to “go within, " to figure it out by ourselves. But Blaise brought a new lens—one that views healing not as a solo pursuit but as something deeply relatio...

Sudden loss is a shockwave. One moment, life is intact. The next, you're standing in the rubble—stunned, shattered, and searching for air. Everything can feel surreal in those first days, weeks, or even months. Like you're watching life happen through thick glass. You go to bed praying it was all just a horrible nightmare. You wake up, and for a second, you think maybe it was just a nightmare. But...

Grief 2 Growth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. “Would you like to pray with me?” The officer asked gently as we walked Shayna’s body out of our home. She hadn’t yet been officially pronounced dead. But I knew. I had already been praying—no, begging—for hours. Screaming. Bargaining. Pleading. I had poured ever...

Introduction: Finding Calm in the Chaos It’s no secret—we’re living in overwhelming times. Many of us wake up each morning with a tight chest and a racing mind, scrolling the news while wondering, What happened now? Anxiety is no longer a rare diagnosis—it’s a way of life. Add to that grief, uncertainty, and a fast-paced world that rarely gives us space to breathe, and we’re left yearning for peac...

Grief has a way of showing up uninvited—and unrelenting. Sometimes it feels like a storm that overtakes everything. Other times, it's subtle: a weight in the chest, an impulse to people-please, or a fear you can’t quite name. But what if some of what we carry isn’t even ours? In this powerful episode of Grief 2 Growth , I sit down with psychotherapist and IFS lead trainer Tamala Floyd to explore h...

In this powerful episode of Grief 2 Growth , host Brian Smith sits down with Debbie Weiss—caregiver, best-selling author, and self-discovery advocate—whose life has been shaped by decades of giving. Caring for her father, son, and husband, Debbie’s journey is one of heartbreak, healing, and transformation. Her message is clear: You can still find yourself, even if you feel like you’ve lost everyth...

Loss is one of life’s most painful experiences. Whether it's the passing of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or a major life shift, grief can feel overwhelming and endless. But what if, instead of breaking us, grief could be a catalyst for transformation ? That’s exactly what happened to Caren Paskel . A thriving yoga studio owner, Caren’s life took an unexpected turn when her husband, Davi...

What does it mean to be a man? For centuries, cultures around the world have provided clear answers through rituals, traditions, and communal expectations. But in modern Western society, that certainty has crumbled, leaving many men grasping for ways to prove themselves—often in the most toxic and destructive ways. Instead of embracing maturity, they perform masculinity, desperately posturing for...

What does it truly mean to have faith? It’s easy when life is going well, but what about when everything falls apart? In this episode, we explore the concept of soul planning—why we come to this world, what we are here to experience, and how faith plays a crucial role in our journey. The powerful story behind the hymn  It Is Well with My Soul  reveals how even our deepest tragedies hold purpose. W...

👼 Have you ever felt an unseen presence guiding you? Maybe you’ve noticed repeated numbers like 1111 or found a white feather in your path. These small but profound moments could be your guardian angel trying to reach you. But what if I told you there’s a powerful secret about angel communication that you’ve never heard before? In this episode of Grief 2 Growth , I had the pleasure of speaking wi...

February Is the Worst Month—But We Can Get Through It February has a way of draining my spirit. Football is over, leaving a void where excitement once lived. There are six months until it’s back. The weather is cold, the sky an unrelenting shade of gray, and the sun feels like a distant memory. Even the tiny things—like the solar-powered lights outside my house—remind me of winter’s grip. They’re...

"What if everything you were taught about God, heaven, and the afterlife is wrong? What if, instead of judgment and fear, you discovered a spirituality rooted in love, healing, and connection?" For many of us raised in fear-based religious traditions , faith was more about avoiding punishment than experiencing divine love. We were taught that questioning doctrine was dangerous, that doubt was sinf...

Are You Caught in Life’s Endless Cycles? Do you ever feel like you’re being tossed around by forces beyond your control? One moment, you’re clear-headed and at peace; the next, you’re restless and overwhelmed, and sometimes, you feel completely stuck. These shifting states are not random but part of a deeper rhythm governing the universe and our inner lives. Understanding these cycles and, more im...

Have Christians Lost Sight of What Jesus Taught About Love? In a world divided by politics, nationalism, and fear of outsiders, what does it mean to love our neighbor? Should love be ranked—starting with family, then extending to fellow citizens, and only then to the rest of the world? Or did Jesus call us to something far more radical? Is It The Left Inverting Christian Teaching? JD Vance recentl...