Podcast appearances and mentions of lennon flowers

“We need to stay open to this very natural response to how we experience the big losses changes in our lives. And if we can do that — it doesn't come at once, it doesn't come in big ahas — but there there is transformation, and there's healing and wisdom and creative inspiration and new perspectives. There's so much that we have access to that we may never be moved by or never encounter if we avoid or shut down our grief.” ~ Naila FrancisIn this farewell episode, Sarah and Naila revisit the emotionally rich journey of their podcast, celebrating the support and community that has been built. They share poignant clips from past episodes, including conversations with guests like Benjamin Gunning, Lennon Flowers, and Naila Francis, reflecting on themes of grief, resilience, and creativity. As they pass the torch to new potential host Julia Mark, they discuss their future creative endeavors and express deep gratitude to their listeners. The episode emphasizes the importance of allowing grief to be a shared, evolving conversation.Show notesMentioned in this episode:Episode 2: Never Alone with Benjamin GunningEpisode 13: The Space to Be Messy with Lennon Flowers Naila's first appearance on the podcast, interviewed by Deborah SzetoEpisode 77: Honoring the Full Range of Grief with Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerEpisode 82: Surfer Dan Fischer is Shaping an Active Grief Memorial through One Last Wave ProjectEpisode 84: Love is the Mother of Grief with Nnenna FreelonEpisode 68: The Possibility of Pleasure with Oceana SawyerSeason 2 Trailer: What is Healing?Season 3 Trailer: What is Joy?Throwing the Bones with Dr. JoAnne Dodgson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.breathingwind.com

Depending on the grief you're experiencing, your friends and family may not always be able to relate to you on the same level. Of course, they can offer condolences and support, but it's not quite the same as meeting with people that know exactly what it feels like to come up on a death anniversary or a triggering holiday or another event unique to grief or loss. This week I chatted with Carla Fernandez, co-founder and original host of The Dinner Party community. The family dinner table is sacred ground in the Fernandez family - so when her dad José passed away from brain cancer in 2010, having a potluck with other people who'd lost a parent was a natural way for Carla to unpack the experience of life after loss. Since then, Carla and co-founder Lennon Flowers created an ever growing platform and have hosted thousands of Dinner Partiers turning their heartbreak into connection and healing.   The Dinner Party is a platform for grieving 20-, 30-, and early 40-somethings to find peer community and build lasting relationships. Since 2014, The Dinner Party has connected more than 13,000 grieving peers to one another, including 2,000 since the start of the pandemic. They screen, train and support a growing network of peer hosts, and connect them to 12-15 people nearby, who share a similar age and loss experience.     Episode Highlights: Where and who grief support has mainly been catered to in the past and where there is lack of support and resources The story of the original dinner party When the world woke up to grief: how Covid played into their business and allowed them to reach more people How Carla navigated her personal grief process as the organization grew Gianna's first Dinner Party experience Different methods of processing grief and why the dinner party can sometimes be a “gateway drug” to other modalities of healing Federal and state labor laws around how bereaved people are respected, receive time off and resources   Learn more about The Dinner Party and available grief resources: https://www.thedinnerparty.org/ https://www.instagram.com/thedinnerparty/ https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTheDinnerParty/ https://twitter.com/DinnerPartiers   Enjoying #SSFYL? Be sure to subscribe and share with a friend! Website | www.ssfylpodcast.com Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/sosorrywithgianna Facebook Group | https://www.facebook.com/groups/ssfylpodcast YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyoo17xXVkpLD0WiTbqsh8w

Depending on the grief you're experiencing, your friends and family may not always be able to relate to you on the same level. Of course, they can offer condolences and support, but it's not quite the same as meeting with people that know exactly what it feels like to come up on a death anniversary or a triggering holiday or another event unique to grief or loss. This week I chatted with Carla Fernandez, co-founder and original host of The Dinner Party community. The family dinner table is sacred ground in the Fernandez family - so when her dad José passed away from brain cancer in 2010, having a potluck with other people who'd lost a parent was a natural way for Carla to unpack the experience of life after loss. Since then, Carla and co-founder Lennon Flowers created an ever growing platform and have hosted thousands of Dinner Partiers turning their heartbreak into connection and healing.   The Dinner Party is a platform for grieving 20-, 30-, and early 40-somethings to find peer community and build lasting relationships. Since 2014, The Dinner Party has connected more than 13,000 grieving peers to one another, including 2,000 since the start of the pandemic. They screen, train and support a growing network of peer hosts, and connect them to 12-15 people nearby, who share a similar age and loss experience.     Episode Highlights: Where and who grief support has mainly been catered to in the past and where there is lack of support and resources The story of the original dinner party When the world woke up to grief: how Covid played into their business and allowed them to reach more people How Carla navigated her personal grief process as the organization grew Gianna's first Dinner Party experience Different methods of processing grief and why the dinner party can sometimes be a “gateway drug” to other modalities of healing Federal and state labor laws around how bereaved people are respected, receive time off and resources   Learn more about The Dinner Party and available grief resources: https://www.thedinnerparty.org/ https://www.instagram.com/thedinnerparty/ https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTheDinnerParty/ https://twitter.com/DinnerPartiers   Enjoying #SSFYL? Be sure to subscribe and share with a friend! Website | www.ssfylpodcast.com Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/sosorrywithgianna Facebook Group | https://www.facebook.com/groups/ssfylpodcast YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyoo17xXVkpLD0WiTbqsh8w

“We're not going to give up in-person gatherings, but at the same time, virtual tables have been so meaningful. Post-COVID probably will be a ‘both and’ community.” - Carla FernandezIn November, we hosted a live interview with Carla Fernandez and Mary Horn in front of an intimate audience. For both women, their work with The Dinner Party is personal.  “We know what it’s like to lose someone and we aren’t afraid to talk about it,” their website states.When COVID-19 arrived in March, Carla, Mary, and the team “frantically put together some programming.” They stood up a calendar of events, including yoga and journaling, that Dinner Parties could tune into from around the world. But when they turned to their community and asked, “what do you need more of?” the answer grounded them in their founding purpose. “They weren't as interested in these one-way teaching experiences,” Carla told us. “What they really wanted was connections and homies that they could talk to about what was going on in their life.” People can go to a yoga class any hour of the day, seven days a week. At the outset of COVID-19, there were a lot of organizations providing those spaces (thankfully!). What Dinner Partiers didn't have was someone that they could talk to about their grief. Since that realization, they have launched the Buddy Program, connected affinity groups, and added 70 new tables to their community.  In our live interview, we talked with them about finding an activity that was purposeful, participatory, and offered the peer support people come to The Dinner Party for. We have plans to host another live interview soon! Stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter.Highlights, inspiration, & key learnings:Origin story. Why Mary comes to the table. (We first heard Carla’s back when we talked with her and co-founder, Lennon Flowers, on a previous episode of the podcast.)Listening to community needs. Asking questions that revealed next steps. Purposeful & participatory shared activity. How The Dinner Party launched the Buddy Program and transitioned the tables online. Paying attention to hand-raisers. How the team supercharged and supported affinity groups that popped up around shared experiences and identities.Looking to the future. A post-COVID world with the best of virtual and IRL gatherings.

(A posting of a conversation from 2014 TNS Archives) Join us for conversation and with TNS Host Oren Slozberg and Lennon Flowers, founder of The Dinner Party: a community of mostly 20- and 30-somethings who’ve each experienced significant loss and who get together over dinner parties to talk about it and the ways in which it continues to affect their lives. Together, they’ve pioneered tools and community through which young people who’ve experienced significant loss can use their shared experience as a springboard toward living better, bolder, and more connected lives. Lennon Flowers Lennon is the co-founder and executive cirector of The Dinner Party. Lennon lost her mom during her senior year of college, following a four-year fight with lung cancer. It had been more than three years since her passing when she hitched up her wagon and headed West to Los Angeles. Suddenly 3,000 miles away from home and the friends she’d known for years, she found she no longer had anyone with whom she could talk about her mom, and explore the way in which her life, death, and absence continued to affect her. So when Carla, a friend, colleague, and soon-to-be roommate, invited her over for dinner, it was a no brainer. Lennon most recently served as community director for Ashoka’s Start Empathy. She has written for YES! Magazine, Forbes, Elephant Journal, Open Democracy, EdWeek, and GOOD. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

In this episode, host @brookeljames is joined by @lennonflowers who shares how her grief experience led her to seek out community and founded @thedinnerparty www.thegriefcoach.co www.thedinnerparty.org

Community Life is the third pillar of Lifefulness and is obviously vital to spiritual communities. We think of a congregation we think of community!We look through our own personal experiences of community, then dive into traditions, ways of finding community, the science behind it and some misconceptions we have about it.This episode would go particularly well when paired with our interview with Lennon Flowers.The second pillar of Lifefulness is Celebration because gathering together to adore what is sacred, or taking time to connect to your meaning individually, is a vital part of spiritual community.James and I explore our own experiences with celebration in Sunday Assembly and The Ethical Society, before diving into the science, history, traditions and practices.This podcast will give you ideas of what you can do in your life, as well as a broader understanding of this vital part of Lifefulness.Lifefulness Podcast Launch ContestAs you heard on the podcast we are running a competition for the until 29th September which you can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/podcast. The more you share the podcast, the more chance you have of winning.Lifefulness Small GroupsWe are passionate about the podcast but we are even more keen on building community. Not just community for the sake of it, not community in a bullshit 'You're part of the Corn Flakes community' but real connections that help you live your life as fully as possible.We are launching Small Groups which will meet twice a month to discuss the big issues we engage with on the podcast, to hold each other accountable, and to inspire each other to be our fullest selves.You can apply to join at www.lifefulness.io/membership.Subscribe, rate, review and share.You can find us here on social media.Insta: @thelifefulnessprojectFB: /thelifefulnessprojectTwitter: @lifefulnessprjtLifefulness At WorkWe love to take Lifefulness into the workplace to help create wonderful work environments through events, training and consultancy. Check out Lifefulness At Work.The HostsJames and I would also love a follow.James CroftTwitter: @croftspeaksSanderson JonesInsta: @sandersonjonesTwitter: @sandersonjones See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our guest today is Lennon Flowers - an amazing thinker, doer and creator who is an inspirational figure in this world of reimagining spiritual community in a way that is non-religious. She does this through The Dinner Party - a non-profit that helps people in their 20’s and 30’s who have lost loved ones and are experiencing grief. The work is inspired by her own mother’s death when she was at college, which left her feeling isolated because no one knows what to say.It was after college that she arranged a dinner party for younger people who were grieving, and a movement was born. Today there have been dinner parties in over 100 cities, and she’s been recognised as an outstanding social entrepreneur, and a reanimator of spiritual traditions.Conversation:We loved this conversation because Lennon is GREAT and I could talk to her for hours. You’ll get an insight into grief, the grieving process, the transformative potential that lurks within loss; the power of community for change; what makes a good community; and so much bloody more. James and I had our ears on stalks because this was such a rich conversation. James was really connected because his dad died only a couple of years ago, and this conversation made him really wanted to join one of the dinner parties. What she said about loss and the need for community resonated with him and he actually signed up for a virtual Dinner Party.Lennon is the perfect example of someone who is doing Lifefulness (without knowing the word). Her work revives and makes sacred the act of coming together to eat and - classic segue - I think you’ll find this conversation absolutely delicious. On reflection, using the word 'delicious' in relation to any woman, even tangentially, instantly sounds priddy creepy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Grief is at an unprecedented level during Covid-19 and yet we are losing the normal in-person ways we grieve. How can we stay connected? Lennon Flowers is the co-founder of The Dinner Party, a platform for connecting mostly 20 and 30 somethings, as well as early 40 somethings, people who are often among the first in their peer community to experience a loss. In this episode, Lennon and I have a discussion about authentic conversations and creating spaces, virtual and in-person, that help people dealing with loss. Lennon talks about: The format of The Dinner Party and the role of the host Modeling vulnerability and encouraging authentic conversation, even in online spaces The paradox of grief in this moment of Covid-19: Both heartbreak and hope can coexist To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode and listen to bonus tracks, visit the show notes. Connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram

Today we’re talking to Lennon Flowers and Carla Fernandez, co-founders of The Dinner Party, a worldwide community of 20- and 30-somethings who have each experienced the loss of a loved one.Using the age old practice of breaking bread, Dinner Partiers are transforming life after loss from an isolating experience into one marked by community support, candid conversation, and forward movement.Today, The Dinner Party tables are regularly meeting in nearly 100 cities around the world, from Milwaukee to Tel Aviv. Most of their 275 tables gather at a host’s house over a potluck. To attend, everyone involved must fill out an application, which the team at HQ reviews by hand, carefully matching each person to a table near them.The Dinner Party is not about one-off dinners. These tables of 10-15 people meet every couple months, so the attendees build meaningful connection over time. If you want to get involved with The Dinner Party, maybe attending, donating, or volunteering, go to their website:  https://www.thedinnerparty.org/.Grab your copy of GET TOGETHER—our handbook on community-building

Happy Thanksgiving all! Forming new gratitudes as we speak even as I interrupt the stuffing making to make this, which makes me happy and gives me lots of why! Inspired by and with many thanks to The On Being Project, Krista Tippett, Jennifer Bailey, Lennon Flowers. Includes an excerpt from this podcast https://onbeing.org/programs/jennifer-bailey-and-lennon-flowers-an-invitation-to-brave-space/. Please listen to the whole thing and check out/subscribe to onbeing and all the radocity that comes out of their work! Find out more, as I will, about Jennifer and Lennon and the people's supper here. https://thepeoplessupper.org/ My dear friend, Sherry Leigh Hoffman Erlandson's linkedin post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6602045307771596800?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6602045307771596800%2C6602373575439716353%29. And more on the event above: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/todd-erlandson-18b4a18_wellbeing-officeofcivicwellbeing-cityofsantamonica-activity-6602045307771596800-QHS9 Here's the (isn't it ironic) On Being post https://onbeing.org/blog/sharon-salzberg-what-is-really-lost-when-you-compare-yourself-to-others/where Sharon Salzberg wrote about the story I heard her tell on ten percent talks. all the ten percent can be found here. https://www.tenpercent.com/ Jocelyn K Glei's Hurry Slowly podcast https://hurryslowly.co/ Happiness Lab https://www.happinesslab.fm/ (misquoted as happiness project, which may or may not be a thing), Gretchen Rubin talks about Happier on her podcast here: https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/

Lennon Flowers and Rev. Jennifer Bailey embody a particular wisdom of millennials around grief, loss, and faith. Together they created The People’s Supper, which uses shared meals to build trust and connection among people of different identities and perspectives. Since 2017, they have hosted more than 1,500 meals. In the words they use, the practices they cultivate (some of which we’ve collected on onbeing.org), and the way they think, Flowers and Bailey issue an invitation not to safe space, but to brave space.Rev. Jennifer Bailey is co-founder of The People’s Supper and the founder and executive director of Faith Matters Network. She is also an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and her writing appears regularly in publications including Sojourners and The Huffington Post.Lennon Flowers is co-founder of The People’s Supper and the co-founder and executive director of The Dinner Party. She is also an Ashoka Fellow and an Aspen Ideas Scholar. She has written for CNN,YES!, Forbes, Open Democracy, EdWeek, and Fast Company.This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Jennifer Bailey and Lennon Flowers — An Invitation to Brave Space." Find more at onbeing.org.

Lennon Flowers and Rev. Jennifer Bailey embody a particular wisdom of millennials around grief, loss, and faith. Together they created The People’s Supper, which uses shared meals to build trust and connection among people of different identities and perspectives. Since 2017, they have hosted more than 1,500 meals. In the words they use, the practices they cultivate (some of which we’ve collected on onbeing.org), and the way they think, Flowers and Bailey issue an invitation not to safe space, but to brave space.Rev. Jennifer Bailey is co-founder of The People’s Supper and the founder and executive director of Faith Matters Network. She is also an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and her writing appears regularly in publications including Sojourners and The Huffington Post.Lennon Flowers is co-founder of The People’s Supper and the co-founder and executive director of The Dinner Party. She is also an Ashoka Fellow and an Aspen Ideas Scholar. She has written for CNN,YES!, Forbes, Open Democracy, EdWeek, and Fast Company.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

Many artists can feel isolated and that can lead to some troubling consequences. This week, Judy is joined by Lennon Flowers, the inspiring founder of The Dinner Party (https://www.thedinnerparty.org/) an organization whose mission is “To transform life after loss from an isolating experience into one marked by community support, candid conversation, and forward movement using the age-old practice of breaking bread.” To learn more about Judy Carter go to: https://judycarter.com/ To learn more about Judy's programs go to: https://themessageofyou.com/ Join us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/761037607301720/

Many artists can feel isolated and that can lead to some troubling consequences. This week, Judy is joined by Lennon Flowers, the inspiring founder of The Dinner Party (https://www.thedinnerparty.org/) an organization whose mission is “To transform life after loss from an isolating experience into one marked by community support, candid conversation, and forward movement using the age-old practice of breaking bread.” To learn more about Judy Carter go to: http://judycarter.com/ To learn more about Judy's programs go to: https://themessageofyou.com/ Join us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/761037607301720/

Meet yourself through Lennon Flowers as she shares her stories of changing identity, chosen family, and the ways in which losing her mom in college has shaped her identity, life and career. You'll also get to hear her share about The Dinner Party and her work to change the landscape of how people support each other through loss and grief.  

Lennon Flowers and Carla Fernandez are here to discuss their work-wife partnership and their incredible non-profit The Dinner Party, which facilitates a series of potlucks around the country to support people in their twenties and thirties who have experienced a major loss. They’re also full of great advice for how to avoid clamming up when someone close to you is going through something hard. Really, we’re here for anything and everything they have to share. P.S. These colorful Wolfum trays are the cutest way to get organized—and they’re also now 10% off with the code AFEWTHINGS. ᐧ

When someone dies, many of the people left behind seek out formal sources of help like a therapist or traditional support group. What happens though when those avenues don’t feel like the right fit? This is what Carla Fernandez and Lennon Flowers, co-founders of The Dinner Party, ran into after they both lost a parent to cancer in their early twenties. Since their first gathering in 2010, The Dinner Party has grown to over 275 hosts in 100 cities. It is a community made up of those ages 21-40 who are seeking connection, friendship, and meaningful conversations about grief and how it affects our lives.  Check out The Dinner Party to find a table near you or start one in your community. 

What if the dinner table was a perfect place to discuss our differences and our greatest potential as a nation? Some of our best and most thoughtful conversations happen around a dinner table. There is something about the food, the atmosphere, and the people that ripen conditions for meaningful conversation. In this episode, we interview Reverend Jennifer Bailey from the Faith Matters Network and Lennon Flowers from the Dinner Party about their new project, The People's Supper. The People's Supper aims to repair the breach in our interpersonal relationships across political, ideological, and identity differences, leading to more civil discourse. And, they plan to do it in the most nourishing way we know – over supper! This isn’t about a political party, or what is or isn’t happening in Washington. It’s about us, and our relationship to one another. Jennifer Bailey is an ordained minister, public theologian, and emerging national leader in multi-faith movement for justice. She is the Founding Executive Director of the Faith Matters Network, a new interfaith community equipping faith leaders to challenge structural inequality in their communities. www.faithmattersnetwork.com. Lennon Flowers is co-founder and executive director of The Dinner Party, a community working to change the way we approach life after loss. She most recently served as the Community Director of Ashoka's Start Empathy Initiative, and has written for CNN, Forbes, Open Democracy, EdWeek, YES! Magazine, and GOOD, among others. She is an Ashoka Fellow and an Aspen Ideas Scholar, and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. www.thedinnerparty,org For more information about The People's Supper, please visit www.thepeoplessupper.org. We want to thank Fact Not Fiction for our theme song. Check out their album "On Friends and Oppenheimer" at factnotfiction.bandcamp.com/ or wherever you listen to your music. We also want to thank Eastlick Coffee Company for sponsoring the show. Head over to eastlickcoffee.com and enter the promo code "undivided" to get 10% off on your next online purchase.

Do you stumble and sweat when you try to show up for someone who has just lost a loved one? Have you lost someone dear and felt like you’re stumbling around alone and in the dark as you navigate your grief? The truth is, loss is an experience most of us share and feel ill-equipped...

Redefining the Dinner Party || Join us today as Rachel interviews Lennon Flowers, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Dinner Party, a community of mostly 20- and 30-somethings working to pioneer tools through which young people who’ve experienced significant loss can use their shared experience as a springboard toward living better, bolder, and more connected lives. Listen in as Lennon imparts insightful wisdom and... Read More