Reimagine Virtual Candlelight Vigil with Mary-Frances O’Connor
Reimagine has been hosting candlelight vigils since March 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to break down taboos and hold space for all that we've lost. This gathering features Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, author of the new book The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing. She will be in conversation with grief educator and writer Stephanie Sarazin. Our other featured guest is Rev Jessica Sharp, spiritual practitioner, artist, and Reimagine community collaborator.
Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD is a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, investigating the effects of grief on the brain and the body. Her book The Grieving Brain was included on Oprah’s list of Best Books to Comfort a Grieving Friend. O’Connor holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in psychoneuroimmunology at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Having grown up in Montana, she now lives in Tucson, Arizona.
https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/
The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing
Stephanie Sarazin is a writer, researcher, grief educator, and experiential expert in ambiguous grief. Her work began with her own experience of traumatic nondeath loss, which sparked an ambitious journey – spiritually and around the world – to understand, name, and heal the grief she found within. Her work revealed a first-of-its-kind definition for ambiguous grief whereby grief is onset by the loss of a loved one who is still living, and wherein hope presents as a defining component of the grieving process. Her book, Soulbroken: A Guide for Your Journey Through Ambiguous Grief (Balance, 2022) was named the Gold Winner by the 2023 Nautilus Books Awards and has received praise from leading voices including Adam Grant, Elizabeth Lesser, and Maria Shriver.
Rev Jessica Sharp is a spiritual practitioner, entrepreneur, and artist dedicated to helping individuals achieve optimal wellbeing. She is the founder of the Joyful Death Institute, where she guides individuals and communities in embracing death as a joyful, healing, and liberating experience. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Boston University, a Ministry from the Church of Natural Grace in San Francisco, certification from the Globe Institute (an accredited Sound Healing school), and has apprenticed under Korean and other indigenous-based shamans. She has a professional background in crisis management, systems design, and social impact. Rev Sharp brings a unique blend of practical expertise and spiritual insight to her work.
https://www.revjessicasharp.com/
https://www.joyfuldeath.institute/
About Reimagine
Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and – at our own pace – actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth.
