If you’ve ever believed grief and joy can’t coexist, episode 444 of Grief and Happiness will change your mind. Cancer survivor Harriet Cabelly shares the mindset that carried her through diagnosis: it’s not what happens to you, but what you do with it. Sitting with pain, not rushing past it, is the real path to a life worth living.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
(00:03) Introducing Harriet Cabelly and her work in grief, loss, and positive psychology
(02:34) Viktor Frankl, logotherapy, and the life-changing lessons of Man’s Search for Meaning
(04:27) Harriet’s cancer diagnosis and choosing not to live as a victim of circumstance
(10:58) Post-traumatic Growth: how difficulty can become the seed of real change
(11:55) “Leaving an imprint in the sand” — redefining Legacy and paying it forward
(12:44) Building community through small, unplanned acts of connection
(18:08) Turning to creativity — handwritten cards and nature photography — as an outlet for grief
(24:33) Why Harriet chose a creative arts therapist over a traditional support group
(26:40) Confronting society’s discomfort with grief and its obsession with quick fixes
Harriet Cabelly is a licensed clinical social worker in New York focused on grief, loss, and life transitions. A cancer survivor, she blends positive psychology with Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy, studied through his Vienna institute, and founded Rebuild Life Now. She has authored several books, including Light Through Darkness and Your To Die For Life, and works as a speaker and facilitator helping clients hold grief and joy together.
In this episode, Harriet reframed grief around one idea: it’s not what happens to us, but what we do with it, that shapes our lives. Rather than adopting a victim mentality after her diagnosis, she used it to fuel a mission of paying forward the gift of her life. She and Emily discussed how creative outlets like handwritten cards and nature photography can substitute for talk Therapy, and why growth only emerges once pain is fully felt. Harriet also challenged society’s discomfort with grief, noting people reach for quick fixes instead of sitting with pain. The conversation closed on her image of “leaving an imprint in the sand,” capturing that healing happens through small acts of care.
Connect with Harriet Cabelly:
Let’s Connect:Â
The Grief and Happiness Alliance
Book: Emily Thiroux Threatt – Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief
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