The Rich Roll Podcast

Discovering Yourself In Tragedy: Steph Catudal On Love, Grief, Healing & Finding Meaning in Life’s Profound Moments

Oct 16, 2023

01:53:23

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Steph Catudal, New York Times bestselling memoir author, discusses trauma, rebellion, faith, tragedy, and the struggle to find meaning in life. They explore healing, self-understanding, and gratitude amidst tragedy. The challenges of being public figures while dealing with cancer and the impact of the COVID pandemic are also discussed. The chapter reflects on finding happiness within and coping with loss. They explore the speaker's experience of being disconnected, numbing pain with alcohol, and the guilt they felt due to their Mormon background. Reflections on honesty, diversity in religion, suffering, and memory are also included. The importance of embracing all emotions and exploring the concept of love is discussed. The podcast ends with reflections on memoir writing and trusting gut instinct.

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Quick takeaways

Tragedy can either break us or make us stronger, and it's our choice to find meaning in our experiences.

Healing is a never-ending journey that involves accepting the wholeness of oneself and finding productive ways to live with past traumas.

Spirituality and the power of love play a significant role in finding meaning and strength during times of suffering.

Embracing and accepting the full spectrum of emotions leads to self-compassion and a more fulfilling life.

Deep dives

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The Difference Between Guilt and Shame

00:33

The Journey from Mormonism to Self-Discovery

00:49

The Challenge of Just Being

01:56

The Power of Holotropic Breathing for Rapid Transformation

00:33

Introduction

3min

Discovering Yourself In Tragedy and Finding Meaning in Life's Profound Moments

4min

Healing and Self-Understanding

16min

Dealing with Cancer as Public Figures

11min

Finding Happiness Within and Coping with Loss

6min

Disconnected from Self and Numbing the Pain

14min

Reflections on Honesty and Diversity in Religion

11min

Challenges of Suffering and Alternative Solutions

5min

Memory, Time, and Quantum Physics

22min

10.

Embracing All Emotional Duality

6min

11.

Exploring the Concept of Love

17min

12.

Reflections on Memoir Writing and Trusting Gut Instinct

3min

Your darkest moments will either break you beyond repair—or make you stronger.

This was the choice faced by Steph Catudal as she navigated mortality, motherhood, and the search for self while her husband—beloved ultra-runner Tommy Rivs—battled a rare form of lung cancer that nearly took his life.

Beautiful and heart-wrenching, Steph relates the intimacies of this experience in her New York Times bestselling memoir, Everything All At Once—an arresting, must-read perspective on trauma, rebellion, faith, tragedy and the painful struggle to identify one’s place in the world.

If you count yourself among the millions deeply impacted by Tommy Rivs’ brush with death and return to life—one of the most beloved episodes the history of this podcast—then today’s conversation is non-negotiable.

This is a conversation about the big things in life: trauma, death, grief, pain, identity and faith.

An artist with words, Steph shares the details of her complicated upbringing, the loss of faith that catalyzed a decade of rebellion, her journey with substance abuse, and the experience of very nearly losing her husband Tommy—juxtaposed agains the mirrored trauma of losing her father to lung cancer during her adolescence.

This is about seeing healing as a never-ending journey—and the importance of assigning meaning to life’s profound moments.

It’s also about how to cultivate gratitude—how to recognize love and beauty amid tragedy, while also holding space for pain, anger, and sorrow.

In other words, how to allow everything all at once.

I was very moved by Steph’s vulnerability—and the power with which she owns her story.

May you find this conversation equally impactful.

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