We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Harriet Hodgson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Harriet thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

I was a caregiver for 23 years and cared for three generations of family members, including my husband. When my husband’s health was failing I searched for ways to reduce stress. One morning I doodled for 20 minutes or so and felt refreshed afterwards, ready to take on another caregiving day. I continued to doodle in the mornings and found it so helpful I wrote Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles. The book was released after my husband died. A week later, I cleared out my husband’s bedroom (really a hospital room) and donated everything to a medical charity. I don’t know why I did this, but I ordered a round table and centered it in the middle of my husband’s bedroom. Then my subconscious revealed why I did this. The room that was a place of sadness was to become my art studio, now a place of joy. Sometimes when I’m doodling there, I feel my husband’s presence and think he would be cheering me on.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have a BS in Early Childhood from Wheelock College of Education and Human Development (part of Boston University), an MA in Art Education from the University of Minnesota, and am a certified art therapy coach. I give free workshops about doodling to heal grief and doodle art in general.

Before I became an author, I taught for a dozen years, and retired to explore writing. After 46 years as an independent journalist, I’m the author of 46 published books and hundreds of online/print articles. I write books to help others and think most of my work does that. All of my writing comes from life experience and extensive research.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2007 my elder daughter, mother of my twin grandchildren, died from the injuries she received in a car crash. Two days later my father-in-law died. Several months later my brother died. In the fall, my grandchildren’s father died from the injuries he received in a second car crash. These multiple losses changed the focus of my writing from health/wellness to grief healing and I wrote 11 books on the subject.

My 45th book, Winning: A Story of Grief and Renewal, is part memoir and part how-to. I wrote it after my husband died. The theme of the book: Death will be the loser. Life will be the winner. I will make it so. Winning was chosen as a Foreword Reviews 2023 Book of the Year in the grief category. “I made it so and you can too,” is the last line. I believe it with all my heart.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I became a teacher because I only had three choices when I graduated from high school: nurse, secretary, teacher. Receiving a scholarship for my first year’s tuition influenced my career choice. Today, women have many options and if I could do it all again, I’d probably choose graphic design.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://harriethodgson.net

Image Credits

Kathy Meyer, RN
Haley Earley, Independent Photographer