From Grief to Growth: The Healing Power of Journaling

Hello Warriors!

This week’s episode of The Suburban Warrior Podcast is the kind that lands in your chest—and stays there. I sat down with Marie Crews, certified grief guide, life coach, speaker, retreat facilitator, and bestselling author who has supported women for more than 15 years.

Marie’s story holds both grit and grace. Raised in Southern Louisiana by a single mom, she navigated early marriage, addiction in the home, and the hard-earned work of healing. Later, life delivered two sudden losses that reshaped everything—the unexpected death of her mother, and then the loss of her adult son, Quentin, to suicide.

And yet, what unfolds in this conversation isn’t hopelessness—it’s a masterclass in resilience. Marie doesn’t preach “moving on.” She teaches something far more honest: how to keep living, how to keep choosing, and how to let peace and joy live in the same house as grief.

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The Power List: 7 Things We Learned from Marie Crews

1) Grief Isn’t Linear—So Stop Expecting It to Be
Marie names what so many women feel but can’t explain: you can laugh in the morning and crumble in the afternoon. That doesn’t mean you’re “backsliding.” It means you’re human.

2) After Loss, the Real Question Becomes: “Now What?”
Not right away—at first, you’re just breathing. But eventually, a quiet crossroads appears:
What am I going to do with this reality I can’t change?
Marie reminds us this isn’t a one-time decision. It’s a choice you make again and again.

3) Your Beliefs Must Expand to Hold Your Pain
Marie shares how losing her son forced a spiritual reckoning. The frameworks that once made sense weren’t big enough for what she was carrying—so she had to build a larger one, one that let her breathe.

4) Her Reframe: “He Came and Left on Time.”
This is the sentence that stopped the freefall for her. Not because it makes the loss okay—but because it gave her a way to live without being consumed by “too soon,” “it shouldn’t have happened,” or “I got cheated.”

5) Journaling Isn’t Just Reflection—It’s Practice
Marie didn’t just “go to therapy.” She practiced what she learned. Her daily writing became the place she worked things out, returned to truth, and stopped going around the same mountain.

6) Don’t Start with Prompts—Start with the Portal
Her journaling approach begins with stream-of-consciousness, not questions.
Her rule: Put the pencil down and don’t pick it up.
Why? Because the thinking brain keeps you looping. The truth lives underneath the loop.

7) Healing Is Returning to Wholeness
Marie’s message is clear and fierce:
You don’t need the world to declare you worthy. You need you.
Her process is designed to help women return to the version of themselves that existed before the world’s wounds, rules, and survival patterns took over.

Marie’s Method: The Nautilus Way (In a Nutshell)

Marie teaches a four-part framework through her signature process:

• Reveal (write what’s there, uncensored)

• Review (identify pain points + beliefs)

• Rewrite (invite the loving voice back in)

• Rewire (practice the new truth until it sticks)

Her mantra is simple—and it hits hard:
“My process is simple, but it’s not easy. What’s harder is not doing it.”

If this episode made you feel seen, share it with a friend who’s carrying grief quietly—inside the chaos of midlife, parenting, caregiving, hormones, marriage, and everything else.

Because Warriors… sometimes the bravest thing you can do is this:
keep choosing life—one page at a time.

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Ready to Warrior Up!

Listen to the Full Episode: Suburban Warrior podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for reading—and remember, knowledge is power! If you’re experiencing symptoms, don’t ignore them. There is help (and hope) out there. Stay tuned for our next newsletter to keep transforming your mindset and rocking your inner warrior!