The memory of my father passing away, not yet past its first anniversary, continues to emanate all kinds of emotion. There is the grief of losing a central figure in my life, the anxiety with facing up to my own mortality, pride at the incredible life he lived, and the transcendence of being a part of the generations going back to my ancestors. I can’t think of anything else that can be as painful and as treasured an experience at the same time.
Our Human Venture community is coming up on the second anniversary of the passing of Ken Low, founder of the Human Venture Institute. There isn’t just sadness for the loss of a mentor, teacher, and friend. It’s the loss of such an original thinker, an intellectual hunter as he would say of meaning from the full range of what humans do. After spending his life examining the human story, it feels like no else can do what he did. Yet, he would always say to us to “keep going” no matter how much we struggled with the overwhelming complexity of the world or our own lack of capacity to make sense of it all. And so, we keep going!
This is my long way of introducing a wonderful interview I had with Daria Soltysiak, a fellow Human Venture alum. After her mom passed away, she realized that there was very little cultural support in our modern society for the grieving process. So she sought out better, more meaningful ways of mourning. Following ideas from thinkers like Francis Weller and Stephen Jenkinson, Daria came to see grieving as a collective responsibility something that the rituals and traditions of old understood. For the loved ones we dearly miss, here is a little space to explore how we grieve.
Chris Hsiung
The Interview
Episode Outline
- The personal experience of grief: Daria’s journey after her mother’s passing
- How Western culture avoids conversations about death—and the consequences of that avoidance
- The societal reluctance to acknowledge and sit with grief
- The role of ritual and ceremony in making sense of loss
- Why grief should be shared rather than carried alone
- Lessons from other cultures on embracing death as a part of life
References
Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martín Prechtel
Ken Low on Life and Death video
Credits
- Guest: Daria Soltysiak
- Producer and Editor: Chris Hsiung
- Associate Producer: Dana Penrice, Mark Hopkins
- Human Venture Institute (humanventure.com) 2025
Email your comments, questions and ideas to podcast@humanventure.com or Ask Me Anything on http://humanventure.supercast.com/