35 episodes
Feels Like Healing Al Lewis
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- Society & Culture
Feels like Healing is a series of conversations between myself Al Lewis and individuals who have turned to creativity as a way of helping them heal.
Our need for healing is universal. However the reasons behind it can be oh so varied; a difficult childhood, a traumatic experience or perhaps a bereavement and our need to process grief.
My search for healing stems from the death of my Dad, who died when I was 21 from Multiple Sclerosis.
For over fifteen years I'd kept a quiet lid on my grief. However when it came to clearing out the last remaining boxes from my Dad's attic, that grief that I'd suppressed came rushing to the surface. It was then that I began to write songs about my Dad. Writing those songs was incredibly cathartic and I realised how useful creativity can be when confronted with the hardest parts of life.
I believe that hearing other people's stories can help us to process ours and that the act of being creative can help turn something seemingly hopeless and incomprehensible in to something beautiful and hopeful.
These conversations are here to provide solace and inspiration and to show you that healing can happen when we take our deepest pain and turn it into a work of art.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Series 3 Highlights
To round off the third series, I've compiled this highlights episode where we will hear once again from all of my guests from throughout this series:
Matilda Heindow, Curtis Stewart, Jude Rogers, Marcus Elliot, Suzie Fletcher, Si Martin, Dr Lesel Dawson, Stephen Wilson Jr, Jo Ritchie & Laura McDonagh, Turt Summers, Carly Attridge & Annie Frost Nicholson and Chris Kage.
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how their creativity has helped them heal.
These conversations are here to show how those who have suffered loss have found comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all better understand ourselves and reach a place of healing.
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You can follow Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Chris Kage
This week my guest is Chris Kage, an artist/producer from Brooklyn New York. Through the years, Chris has primarily operated behind the scenes, as a songwriter in bands and as a backing musician, touring with the likes of Willie Nelson (and his sons Micah, Lukas) and Kris Kristofferson. In his mid-twenties, after ending up on a psychiatric ward for three days, Chris was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But rather than be totally destroyed by this, Chris decided to turn it into a collection of songs to share with others; these songs would become his debut album 'Cycles'. Chris states that this album is about trying to emotionally communicate his truths, in a way that can support others with theirs.
In addition to inspiring the songs written for Cycles, Chris' experiences with his own mental health also led him to start Sound Mind Live, a non-profit organization whose mission it is to create a shared space where music and mental health can coexist.
You can find Chris on Instagram @chriskageofficial
Sound Mind Live - visit their website: https://www.soundmindlive.org/
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
::::
You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Carly Attridge & Annie Frost Nicholson
This week my guests are Carly Attridge founder of the Loss Project and Annie Frost Nicholson a multidisciplinary artist from London. Both of them have worked on projects which have focused on how we can use creative practices as a catharsis for our grief. Carly started The Loss Project (a social enterprise focused on helping people find ways of processing grief) after she reflected on her own wellbeing struggles following various losses in her life and realised there was something lacking from what was on offer to support people.
Annie's own devastating loss happened in 2011 when several members of her close family died in a tragic accident. Ever since, grief has been a subject she’s explored in a myriad of ways, including a film ‘Into Your Light’, a monthly Grief Mixtape that she hosted on Soho Radio and more recently, the Fandangoe Whip, Skip and the Grief Rave, which in turn, would spawn the Fandangoe Discoteca, their latest touring collaboration where bereaved people could dance out their grief.
For more information on
The Loss Project visit their website: https://www.thelossproject.com/
Annie Frost Nicholson visit her website: https://www.anniefrostnicholson.com/
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
::::
You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Turt Summers (Summers Sons)
This week my guest is Turt Summers, a vocalist/rapper/songwriter from South London and one half of the jazz rap group Summers Sons. They have released 4 albums as well as working with some of the UK's and Germany's finest producers. They have also toured with Children of Zeus, Melodiesinfonie & Flo filzz - solidifying themselves as one of the UK's best underground trios. Their 2019 album The Rain focuses on the grief Turt felt following the loss of his stepdad Bill. In this episode we discuss the making of the album 'The Rain' and the impact opening up about his grief in song has had on Turt.
You can purchase 'The Rain' over on Summer Sons Bandcamp page here:
https://summerssons2.bandcamp.com
Songs featured in this episode include:
Never Walk Alone - Summers Sons
The Rain (pt.1) - Summers Sons
The Rain (pt.3) - Summers Sons
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
::::
You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Stephen Wilson Jr.
This week my guest is Stephen Wilson Jr. a singer/songwriter from rural Indiana (USA). As a teenager Stephen moved to Nashville to pursue a degree in Microbiology. After completing his degree, he worked for several years as an R&D scientist at Mars until one day, faced with the prospect of a life climbing the corporate ladder, Stephen decided to take a leap of faith and pursue his dream of becoming a songwriter. A few years later his father – Stephen Wilson Sr - died at 59 and this set Stephen on a path to becoming an artist in his own right. He is quoted as saying that music was the only thing that had any ability to help him understand grief. The proof of this is in Søn of Dad, his debut album which came out to critical acclaim in 2023
You can find more information about Stephen's music at https://www.stephenwilsonjrmusic.com
Songs featured on this episode include
twisted by Stephen Wilson Jr.
Father's Søn by Stephen Wilson Jr.
Grief is Only Love by Stephen Wilson Jr.
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
::::
You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Jo Ritchie & Laura McDonagh (Projecting Grief)
This week my guests are Jo Ritchie and Laura McDonagh, the team behind 'Projecting Grief'. Projecting Grief tells the stories of people finding comfort, distraction or hope in a creative pursuit after losing someone they love. After losing her brother Jack in 2017, the last thing photographer Jo Ritchie wanted to do was pick up her camera. But as she started to search for others who had been through a similar experience, she was intrigued to meet many whose grief had been the catalyst for a creation. Fascinated and uplifted by this discovery, Jo began actively searching for people using a creative practice for distraction, relief or an expression and asked to take their portraits.
In 2019, she enlisted the help of writer Faye Dawson to interview sitters and write up their stories. Faye worked on the project for three years before deciding to take a step back from Projecting Grief in 2022.
Laura McDonagh’s mum Anne died suddenly in 2019. Afterwards, Laura felt compelled to write about family, identity and home; to get things down before anything else could be lost. Laura was featured on Projecting Grief in 2020, before joining the team as an interviewer and writer.
You can see more of Jo’s photography at www.joritchiephoto.com
You can find Laura at www.heylauramc.com
Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.
These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.
::
You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcast
Produced / Edited by Al Lewis
Theme music by Al Lewis
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.