Biography
Marinda is a life-long spiritual student of many religions and disciplines. She has been a licensed spiritual counselor and teacher for over 20 years. Her book, The Grief Train, a healing journey of love, loss and renewal was the result of her personal exploration of grief after her husband died unexpectedly of a heart attack. She started a blog to write about her process and discovered that friends found solace and inspiration in reading her blog. Over a five-year period of studying grief as an emotion and mourning as a ritual and process, Marinda discovered the mourning etiquette of the 1800's that we no longer know or follow. She wrote her book in order to provide a gentle, spiritual, non-religious approach to grief as a way to help others.
"I discovered after writing The Grief Train, that it was really an
exploration of the meaning of death, of loss", Marinda says. "What did
my husband's death mean? What does widow mean?"
Marinda has had a successful event design business for 35 years. She is passionate about creating community and connection – the true purpose of every event. Marinda designs events that bring people together – where they feel comfortable, inspired and at ease in connecting with others. She helps her clients think differently about their events for greater success – and to create not just results but memories.
"For me, it's all about creating beauty – what the event looks like, and
more importantly what it FEELS like. I create beauty everywhere – in
the home, the garden, and in the food I prepare."
Altars are another way to create beauty. It could be an entryway arrangement signaling welcome, peace is here; or an altar designed for a meditation space, or to honor the loss of a loved one, or used more formally as a ritual, as explained in the book.
Food is another life-long passion of Marinda's. As a chef, she has taught cooking classes, developed recipes, and was Executive Director of Martha Stewart's catering business. As her husband Mike, was also a chef, she had to include recipes in her book.
Marinda has lived in beautiful Marin County, California since 1991 and raised her daughter, Esther, there.