Grief as Sacred Art: Sheila K. Collins on Healing Through Creativity

In this deeply moving episode of Healing Horizons, we welcome Sheila K. Collins—grief advocate, author of The Art of Grieving, and former professional dancer. Sheila shares her powerful journey of loss, from losing her son to AIDS and her daughter to breast cancer, and how creativity became her lifeline. Through dance, poetry, and storytelling, she found a way to alchemize sorrow into sacred expression. This episode explores how art changes our brain, opens our hearts, and helps us remain connected to those we've lost—transforming grief into a lifelong, soulful companion rather than a chapter we try to close.

About the Guest:
Sheila K. Collins is a grief advocate, author, former professional dancer, and social work professor. Her book The Art of Grieving explores how artmaking—movement, music, poetry, and story—helps us live fully even in loss. She also teaches a system called InterPlay, blending creativity and embodiment to support healing around the world.

Key Takeaways:

• Grief can be transformed through embodied creativity like dance, storytelling, and song.

• Art changes our brain and invites emotional processing in ways words often can’t.

• Presence, not perfection, is the essence of creative healing.

• InterPlay and community-based art practices have supported healing in diverse populations, including trauma survivors.

• Grief is not linear—it’s a spiral, a thread we learn to weave into the tapestry of our lives.

Connect with Sheila K. Collins:
Website: https://www.sheilakcollins.com
Book: The Art of Grieving: How Art and Artmaking Help Us Live Our Best Lives
Learn more about InterPlay: https://www.interplay.org

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