Episode Details

Colin Campbell, a writer and director for theater and film who was nominated for an Academy Award for Seraglio, a short film he wrote and directed with his wife, Gail Lerner, is the author of a powerful memoir about catastrophic loss titled Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss With Hope and Purpose. When his two teenage children, Ruby and Hart, were tragically killed by a drunk driver, Colin was thrown headlong into a grief so deep that he felt he might lose his mind, and he found much of the common wisdom about coping with loss—including the ideas that grieving is a private and mysterious process and that the pain is so great that “there are no words”—to be unhelpful. Join us as Colin shines a light on a path forward through the darkness of grief and empowers us to live more fully while also holding our loved ones close.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT THINGS LIKE:

• The tragic accident that took Colin’s two teenage children’s lives.
• What a doctor did that became a “beautiful lesson” in Colin’s grief journey.
• Why “there are no words” is akin to the worst thing you can say to someone who is grieving. 
• The amazing, inspiring ways Colin turned his first birthday without his children into a powerful experience of love and active mourning. 
• Why leaning into pain helps a person to be less fearful and promotes healing. 
• 
  

SOME QUESTIONS IRENE ASKS COLIN:

• Why is it important to take community with you on your journey through grief?
• What makes grief frightening, and why does it take courage to grieve?
• Why should anyone who has had a traumatic loss seek therapy? 
• Is therapy always unaffordable, and how can we discern if we need a different therapist?
• How did you find a way to think once more about a meaningful future and a life with purpose?