Lauren Muscarella

Lauren started the blog Mama Quest in May 2010 to share stories of her journey through loss after losing her mother in 2006 at age 20. The blog also serves as an outlet to pass on the wisdom she received from her mother, who died of breast cancer at 52. After an overwhelmingly positive response to the blog, she launched Trauma to Art, a movement to support and facilitate creative expression from those who have experienced loss. Now Lauren works to build the Trauma to Art community while writing a book of creative arts therapy activities for confronting grief as well as preserving the memory of lost loved ones. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys volunteering, traveling, wine tasting, and learning to speak French.

Articles:

Illumination quote card by Laurel D. Rund

A Message for Mother’s Day: After Mother Has Died

Yesterday I received a text message saying, “I’m sorry I couldn’t call you back. I had a rough night.” I wasn’t keeping track and couldn’t readily remember what I’d called […]

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‘Isn’t Mom Done Being Dead Yet?’

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.” That’s what my mom always said. I’d holler back, “Well, one right and one wrong don’t make a right either, MMMommm.” Whenever she said […]

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What is Mother’s Day after Mother is Gone?

What is Mother’s Day? A day to honor mothers. To me, it’s also the day that American University hosts its graduation. May 13, 2007, I sullenly watched David Gregory give […]

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Book Review: Change Your Brain, Change Your Body

And here we are, the third installment of the series. While exploring unconventional books to read when grieving, I realized that the landscape is endless. With addiction and creativity covered, […]

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New Book Says Greatest Work Can Come From Darkest Moments

“There will always be something quite miraculous about the imagination,” writes Jonah Lehrer in his latest book Imagine: How Creativity Works. This is my second recommendation in a four-part series […]

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Alcohol is a Trap for Grievers

Books about grief are not my favorite. I don’t find comfort in reading the details of someone else’s depression or hard time when I’m in the same, dark place. More […]

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Three Grief Lessons from ‘Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close’

When I saw Stephen Daltry’s “Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close,” I cried three times. The first time, it was the mere idea of a boy losing his father who he […]

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Can I Believe My Mother is in Heaven?

I love going to psychics. I’m not sure if it’s my impetuous nature to know what is to come, the comforting assertions like “Great fortune is headed your way” or […]

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Grieving Mother-Loss Different for Everyone

“You’re not angry you didn’t spend that time with your mother?” a friend asked me over dinner last night. About six months before my mom died, it was obvious the […]

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After Mother-Loss, Daughter Struggles with Guilt about Father

“I told him he had to get out. It would have been selfish of me to let him stay there,” my friend Claire said about her youngest son, A.J. Claire […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.