Listen now | In this episode, Merissa talks about her new book, “Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman’s Guide to Grieving”, and about her experience of her father’s death and grieving process. Merissa’s book is part memoir and part roadmap to navigating grief. A theme in the book, and in our conversation, is around innovating when rituals and practices no longer work for us. Merissa has a way of investigating the relationship between feelings and actions/rituals that I found interesting and helpful. This reflective practice can help us understand what to do with religious rituals when they cease to feel purposeful or connective.