THIS POST AND PODCAST EPISODE ARE PACKED WITH GOODNESS. LISTEN AND BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FOR DETAILS ABOUT THE FALL LIT JOURNAL, THE STORYTELLERS POETRY CONTEST (WITH CASH PRIZE), AND THE FALL POETRY COHORT THAT STARTS 9/30.
The Way Back Podcast is brought to you by TheWayBack2Ourselves.com, with co-host and producer
and founder Kimberly Phinney, an English professor, author, editor, and counselor, who is a doctoral candidate in Community Care and Counseling. Her poetry collections, Of Wings and Dirt and Exalted Ground, are available wherever books are sold. She is an award-winning poet and educator.
Come join Kimberly as she sits down with
, certified grief coach, podcaster, and author of Can You Just Sit with Me? and Black Woman Grief. In this timely episode, while the world and our country find themselves in deep turmoil and unrest, Natasha and Kimberly talk about the many ways we experience and survive grief. If you are feeling heavyhearted and a bit lost with everything you see happening—in our world and in your personal journey—then this episode is for you. Come, friend, and sit with us. We think you’ll find some solace here.Natasha speaks on:
-her grief story and the powerful lessons she learned
-God’s nearness to the brokenhearted
-the deep need for Jesus AND counseling
-busting grief myths that have been hurting us
-Why would a GOOD God allow BAD things to happen to GOOD people?
-Can anything good ever come from our grief?
-How can we be more present in our grief and the grief of others?
-and so much more
This is an episode you won't want to miss!
You can find Natasha here:
Can You Just Sit With Me? with Natasha Smith | Substack
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY HERE:
To hear more and connect with our community, please visit www.TheWayBack2Ourselves.com. We offer editing, counseling, teaching, and publishing services, as well as cohorts and retreats.
If you’d like to get a feel for our journal as a writer or artist, or if you’d like to enjoy our creative offering as a reader, you can find our online journal HERE for FREE. And you can purchase our print journal HERE, which was a bestseller on Amazon this summer.
THE POETRY COHORT IS BACK!
Don’t miss out on enrolling in the Fall Poetry Cohort with Kimberly Phinney and Heather Lobe Johnson. Classes start 9/30 and there are just a few seats left! If you love poetry, want to grow in your craft and knowledge, are interested in writing a collection, and are looking for a supportive community, then the Poetry Cohort is for YOU! You can learn more about it and purchase your seat HERE.
Enjoying our Substack? You can get full access to My Way Back at thewayback2ourselves.substack.com/subscribe. Become a paid subscriber for just $8 a month and get Kimberly Phinney's 4-week writing course, How to Grow Your Writing Life, for FREE. You'll also get a monthly seat to Poetry University on Zoom (live and recorded) for FREE, where Prof. Phinney teaches you about poetry, writing craft, publishing, Substack, authentic growth and readership, and more.
FALL LITERARY JOURNAL AND POETRY CONTEST
Don't miss out! Our literary journal's fall collection, TO THE MOUNTAINS, is open for submissions Sept. 1-Oct. 1, 2025. You can learn more HERE and HERE.
We are also excited to announce our Storytellers Poetry Contest that is happening in conjunction with the fall journal. There’s a cash prize! You can learn about all of the details HERE.
And as always…
You belong here,
me (and TWBTO team)
