Healing Through Humor: Navigating Grief with Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss

The Uplifters

“Not only does it feel good to laugh, but when you find yourself laughing, whether you realize it or not, you're reminding yourself that you're still in there. It's like, ’ Oh wait, I'm still me.’”

In the final episode of our Uplifting series on grief and loss, you’ll meet Rebecca Soffer, co-founder of Modern Loss, author of the bestselling “The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Your Resilience,” and co-author of the book "Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome."

«Check out other episodes from the series HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.»

In this conversation, Rebecca and I discuss:

• How her work at The Cobert Report primed her to use humor to navigate the long and messy arc of grief after losing both parents early in her adult life
• How shared grief can be a shortcut to intimacy and deep connection
• How humor reminds us that we’re still here when we’re losing so much of what makes us feel like ourselves
• That there’s no right or wrong way to grieve
• How to take care of ourselves and our boundaries during the many stages of loss

Rebecca

Rebecca Soffer is cofounder of Modern Loss, which offers creative, meaningful, and encouraging content and community addressing the long arc of grief. She is also the author of the bestselling “The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Your Resilience,” which Gayle King named a favorite book of 2022. Rebecca is also co-author of the book "Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome," Her writing has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, Glamour, and NBC and she has spoken on loss and resilience around the world, including at Capital One, Amazon U.S. and UK, HBO, and SoFi. Rebecca is a Peabody Award-winning former producer for The Colbert Report and a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna.

Thank you to Susie Jaramillo for nominating Rebecca as an Uplifter. Please join Susie, me, and a host of other Uplifters on May 17 for Uplifters Live. You can learn all about it HERE.