#107: When Loss Becomes a Love Letter

How Angela's Art is Healing Hearts (And Herself)

Listen to the episode

Personal note: This episode was recorded two weeks before my grandma, my person, passed away. Something in my spirit knew it was coming, even though her death came as a shock. As Angela described losing her mother, her person, I found myself crying with her throughout our conversation, thinking of my own grandmother, feeling the weight of what was to come without fully understanding it yet.

It feels fitting to share this episode about grief and healing now. Angela's journey reminds us that there are no shortcuts through loss, but there are beautiful, unexpected paths forward. Her story of creating something meaningful from her pain resonates deeply with me in this season.

Stay tuned for next week's special episode, which features my grandmother herself.

Today’s Featured Uplifter: Angela Wilson

Between 2020 and 2024, Angela experienced a series of profound losses: her classroom as a first-year teacher during the pandemic shutdown, her religious community after making the difficult decision to leave a high-demand faith tradition, her mother who was "her person," and the gradual disappearance of her father through Alzheimer's – what she poignantly calls "the long goodbye."

Instead of retreating inward, Angela has turned outward, creating and giving away over 750 pieces of art across the country since January. Each small circular masterpiece arrives unexpectedly in someone's mailbox, a tangible reminder that beauty still exists and that someone cares enough to create it, just for them.

"I used to be so afraid of poking my bruises," she tells me, referring to the grief she carries. "But when I paint, I shut all things down and I'm actually able to be present and poke that bruise a little bit so I can work through those emotions." What began as personal therapy has blossomed into a movement of generosity that's connecting strangers across state lines, creating unexpected moments of joy in otherwise ordinary days.

As we talk, I find myself thinking about the nature of healing – how it rarely follows the straight path we expect, and how often the most profound medicine comes from what we offer others rather than what we keep for ourselves.

Check out Angela’s project HERE, and request free art for yourself or someone else HERE.

Her Courage Practice: Making Mediocre Art

Angela begins each day with what she calls her "selfish practice" – carving out time to create art without expectation or judgment. She simply allows herself to play with color and form.

What makes this practice transformative isn't just the creation itself, but the permission she grants herself: permission to be imperfect, to experiment, to make "mediocre" art that might mean the world to someone else. "Every day is just this amazing opportunity to live to the fullest," she says. "This is the only today I'm ever going to live. And what do I want that to be?"

This daily ritual has become both anchor and compass, grounding her in the present moment while pointing her toward healing. By creating something physical to send into the world, she's creating tangible proof that beauty can emerge from brokenness, that generosity can spring from grief, that connection can bloom even in the desert of loss.

Listen to this if:

• You're struggling with grief or loss and searching for a path forward

• You've left a community that once defined your identity

• You want to turn your pain into purpose but don't know where to start

• You need permission to create without perfectionism

• You're wondering how small, daily acts of courage can transform both your life and others'

Also in this episode:

• Rachel Lipson (Episode 3) who said "Everybody has ideas. Entrepreneurs are the ones who do something about them."

• Book mentioned: Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

Listen to more transformation stories here.

Let’s keep rising higher together.

💓 Aransas

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