45 | How Does Water Help Us Grieve? (Holdingford, MN)

Thanks for listening to The Watershed, a podcast of We Are Water MN. In this episode, we explore the role of water in the grieving process. Can we shift the way we think about tears? What effect does proximity to water have on the human mind, body, and spirit?

Today's guest, AnnElise Bergstrom, is uniquely situated to guide us through these questions. Tune in to hear takeaways from her experiences facilitating grief support groups, as well as her own personal connection with water.

We Are Water MN will be hosted by Mississippi River - Sartell Watershed partners including Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District in spring of 2024. You can visit the exhibit at Art in Motion on the Lake Wobegon Trail, in Holdingford, from April 25 through June 17. Learn more at https://www.stearnscountyswcd.net/wawmn.

This episode of the Watershed was produced by Angela Hugunin, and by We Are Water MN, which is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension.

We are Water MN is funded in part with money from the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Special thanks to Emma Needham, who conducted our interviews in Holdingford. Thank you to AnnElise Bergstrom, our interviewee for this episode.

You can find We Are Water MN on Facebook (⁠https://www.facebook.com/wearewatermn/⁠), Instagram (⁠https://www.instagram.com/wearewatermn/⁠), and Twitter (⁠https://twitter.com/wearewatermn⁠). Follow along for the latest updates!

Music credits: These Times and Warm Fingers by Blue Dot Sessions (⁠www.sessions.blue⁠).

Other resources mentioned in this episode:

• AnnElise references a quotation by Clarissa Pinkola Estés on the role of tears. A quote by Isak Dinesen is also mentioned: “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”

• This 2019 article gives an overview of some of the blue space studies cited in this episode: Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian

You can learn more about We Are Water MN and upcoming host sites at ⁠mnhum.org/water⁠.