[Encore] Turning Pain Into Possibility: The Beauty That Comes After Loss with Poet Maggie Smith

Description:

Sometimes the deepest growth comes from the hardest seasons. An untreatable diagnosis, a painful divorce, the loss of hard-earned savings—when life tears apart the script we imagined for ourselves, we’re left to wrestle with who we are, what we value, and how to begin again.

In this special encore episode, poet and bestselling author Maggie Smith joins Jen for a tender, hopeful conversation about finding light in the aftermath of loss. Jen shares how she first discovered Maggie’s work (spoiler: Shauna Niequist played matchmaker), and together they swap stories of navigating divorce, rediscovering hope, and daring to rebuild.

Maggie opens up about the unexpected end of her marriage, the daily pep talks she wrote just to survive, and how those words became lifelines for thousands of others. Along the way, she reminds us that even when our script gets flipped, we can trust “future us,” make peace with uncertainty, and emerge stronger, more grounded, and ready for what comes next.

If you’ve ever felt adrift in the dark or questioned your worth in the wake of loss, this encore episode will remind you that you are loved, worthy, and capable of carrying on—step by step, word by word.

Thought-provoking Quotes:

• “Growth unfortunately often comes from the most uncomfortable or painful parts of life. I don’t want this to be true, and yet here we are.” – Jen Hatmaker

• “My marriage ended… and part of what helped me stay anchored was writing. I was in too much pain to really write poems, so I started writing myself a little pep talk every day. What I found was that all these other people started sharing them… and that sense of purpose, and that sense of shared community, at a time when I felt completely alone, was everything.” – Maggie Smith

• “Hope is imaginative—it allows you to envision what might be up ahead even when you see nothing.” – Jen Hatmaker

• “I was lost at sea, adrift in the dark, but even one small light on the horizon showed me I was still on the right path.” – Jen Hatmaker

• “I’ve built up a tolerance to ambiguity. Ten years ago, it would’ve undone me. Now, it’s a skill I’m grateful for.” – Maggie Smith

• “We didn’t choose this. The script was flipped for us. But what we do with it—that belongs to us.” – Jen Hatmaker

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Shauna Niequist - https://www.shaunaniequist.com/

• Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Maggie Smith - https://amzn.to/41YsuAb

• Good Bones: Poems by Maggie Smith - https://amzn.to/469P6jA

• Goldenrod: Poems by Maggie Smith - https://amzn.to/3Iwh7ZB

• You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith - https://amzn.to/46r9CuZ

Guest’s Links:

Website - https://maggiesmithpoet.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/maggiesmithpoet/

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