Lily Cornell Silver + Susan Silver Discuss Overcoming Loss + Grief on ‘Mind Wide Open’

Lily Cornell Silver released her last episode of her mental health-focused video series Mind Wide Open today (July 20), which featured her mother and music industry titan Susan Silver as a guest. During the discussion, the pair discussed various topics, such as overcoming grief and the ties between addiction and mental health.

Today marks one year since Cornell Silver launched the web series, and also would’ve been her father Chris Cornell’s 57th birthday.

“I feel so lucky to have been able to create this series and provide a resource for mental health, a topic near to my heart; I couldn’t have done so without the help and inspiration of both of my beautiful parents,” Cornell Silver wrote on her Instagram.

Before Silver married Cornell, she managed Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees and several other bands in Seattle beginning in the late 1980s. She and the Soundgarden frontman wed in 1990, and they welcomed their daughter 10 years later before they divorced in 2004.

During the episode, Silver detailed her experience losing her younger brother to substance abuse in 1996, and how she used dancing as a tool to help her cope with the grief.

Cornell Silver was 16 years old when her dad died in 2017, and her mother noticed that she began manifesting her grief in an unhealthy way.

“The gravity of grief is profound on the human body. And so we were laying in bed one night and I said, ‘Honey, let’s find something for you to do, let’s find an activity,'” Silver recalled.

After suggesting a couple of different hobbies for her daughter to try and pick up to help her heal, boxing was the one that struck her interest.

“That’s something we’ve talked about a lot… is how important externalization has been — not only being able to sit with your feelings and quiet your mind enough to listen to yourself and be comfortable in the uncomfortable, but also giving yourself that space to externalize, whether it’s through moving your body or doing something creative or writing,” Cornell Silver added.

Watch the full episode below.

Throughout the year-long series, Cornell Silver has spoken to other guests such as Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen, Spotify’s Allison Hagendorf, Matt Pinfield and several mental health professionals.