The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily
Episode 1387: "Different Kinds of Sadness" by Jenny Molberg
Host: Maggie Smith
Date: November 3, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode of The Slowdown, host Maggie Smith reflects on the profound impact of friendship during times of hardship. Smith shares personal anecdotes about how friends provided different forms of support during her own difficult moments, emphasizing the life-saving power of community and connection. The episode culminates in the reading and exploration of Jenny Molberg's poem, "Different Kinds of Sadness," which serves as a poetic testament to the complex, sometimes bittersweet, roles friends play in our lives.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
The Life-Saving Power of Friendship
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Personal Reflections:
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Maggie opens with heartfelt stories about how her friends have been instrumental in helping her through challenging periods, reminding listeners that support can come in many forms—practical, emotional, and even logistical.
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She recounts moments where friends offered simple pleasures, companionship, and opportunities, all of which helped her to heal and feel less alone.
"My friends have saved my life time and time again. That’s not hyperbole. I mean it."
— Maggie Smith (01:07)
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Accepting Help:
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Smith acknowledges the difficulty many face in accepting help, especially those who pride themselves on self-sufficiency, but she urges listeners to welcome generosity, describing it as 'life-saving.'
"It can be so hard to accept help from others, especially if you pride yourself on being self sufficient. But I took them up on their offers of meals and company and advice. And I’m so glad I did because these things were all life saving."
— Maggie Smith (02:33)
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The Poem as a Love Letter to Friendship
- Introduction to the Poem:
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Maggie frames Jenny Molberg’s “Different Kinds of Sadness” as a love letter to those friendships that come through in life’s darkest moments.
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She invites listeners to reflect on the friends who have shown up for them, or to consider being that reliable presence for someone else.
"Today’s poem is a love letter to life-saving friendships. Maybe it will make you think of a person or people in your life who showed up exactly when you needed them..."
— Maggie Smith (03:20)
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Poem Highlights: "Different Kinds of Sadness" by Jenny Molberg
Summary & Key Lines (03:34–05:20)
The poem is a narrative addressed to a friend who traveled far to provide comfort in the aftermath of an escape from an abusive relationship. Molberg blends tactile details (Mexican food, drinks at a station) with wistful observations (shrivelled figs instead of maraschinos, the ghosts of lives unlived), using different kinds of sadness as a motif to underscore both connection and loss.
Notable Excerpts:
> "Sometimes a friend can save your life, as when you drove in from Albuquerque the day I left the man I thought would kill me..."
— Jenny Molberg, read by Maggie Smith (03:40)
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> "The lives we have chosen not to live are enough to fill the whole day's train with ghosts and ghosts, ghosts and ghosts."
— Jenny Molberg (04:52)
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"But there are also people who have known you forever, which is yet another kind of sadness because you’ve only just met."
— Jenny Molberg (05:05)
Tone & Imagery
- The poem beautifully blends comfort and longing, using shared food and drink as metaphors for healing and solidarity.
- There is an acknowledgment of mutual sadness, both in the situation and the peculiar details (like garnishes) that color memory and emotion.
Memorable Moments & Quotes
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On gratitude for friends’ generosity:
"When I lost my joy, my generous friends were there...these things...helped me close some wounds. All in their own ways restarted my heart."
— Maggie Smith (02:58) -
On universal experiences of sadness and connection:
"...there are also people who have known you forever, which is yet another kind of sadness because you’ve only just met."
— Jenny Molberg (05:05)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Host Reflection on Friendship: 01:07–03:30
- Introduction of the Poem: 03:20–03:34
- Poetry Reading: 03:34–05:20
- Episode Closing / Call for Reflection: 05:20–06:10
Final Thoughts
This episode gracefully intertwines personal narrative with poetic exploration, encouraging listeners to appreciate the subtle, essential ways friends can save us. Maggie Smith’s gentle yet candid tone invites introspection, making this not only a poetic experience but a meditation on the sustaining power of human connection.