TEDxSeattle Salon: Practice Letting Joy in while Coping with Loss

As our community emerges from the grief of the pandemic, we confront new and familiar challenges. We invite you to take inspiration from Caroline Catlin’s talk - Why I Photograph the Quiet Moments of Grief. Learn how her own experience with illness inspired her to connect to others facing similar challenges. After a diagnosis of a rare form of brain cancer, Caroline Catlin was forced to confront her own mortality and come face to face with the complex emotions surrounding death and dying. Through photography and writing, she has learned to see the beauty in the end of life and reframed her perspective on her own cancer in the process.

Together, we’ll enjoy a glass of fine wine, watch Caroline’s talk (which has 1M+ views to date) and then engage in dialogue with Caroline and invited guests who will share their wisdom on the tough but universal experience of grief.

A limited number of in-person seats are available here for $10. Wine and food will be available before and after the panel. Audience members will be asked to wear masks during the panel.

Or you can reserve your free virtual spot instead!

A special thanks to Elsom Cellars for partnering to make this Salon possible.

Caroline Catlin

Caroline Catlin is a writer, photographer, and nap enthusiast. She exudes such a positive, bubbly personality that her desire to dive into intense and difficult topics may come as a surprise to some—but for Catlin, joy and loss feel deeply intertwined.

In January 2019, Catlin found out she had brain cancer. A long-time advocate for mental health, Catlin suddenly found herself dealing with trauma and devastating illness first hand. With the help of her “sunshine tornado” partner, she made it through multiple rounds of radiation and chemo that were followed by coffeehouse jaunts with her dog and close friends in tow. The road was long, but she made a point to, “practice letting joy in.” Through it all, Catlin found the strength to process her own journey through trauma and to look with an inquisitive and sensitive eye at how other people function through life’s most difficult moments.

This work has taken Catlin and her camera to the bedside of those breathing their last breath and into the lives of individuals dealing with intense grief and loss. Catlin’s research and work in behavioral health and developmental trauma have inspired her to reform the way health, illness, and disability are portrayed in the media. Through her lens we can discover the art within caregiving and therapy.

Lynette Huffman Johnson

Founder Lynette Huffman Johnson began photographing families and children in 1984, shortly after the birth of her first daughter, but in 1996 her sister-in-law asked her to take a different kind of picture: a picture of her niece, Lainie, who was stillborn. Another close friend’s baby had died over two decades prior, and it was the memory of these two children, Lainie and Janus, that inspired Lynette to form Soulumination.

Since its inception as a 501(c)(3) non-profit public organization in 2005, Soulumination has grown to over 60 professional photographers who volunteer their time and talents, and over 120 community volunteers who lovingly help us serve these families.

Caroline Wright

Caroline Wright is a cook, author, and terminal brain cancer patient. After her diagnosis, she focused her career on her two sons and the connection that comes from telling her story. She’s written four cookbooks and four children’s books. Caroline lives in Seattle, Washington with her family. www.carolinewrightbooks.com

Colleen Robertson (Moderator)

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Colleen has been directly involved with grief work for nearly a decade through her board service with the Safe Crossings Foundation. Indirectly, Colleen has been involved with Safe Crossings Foundation and grief work since she was a little girl. Colleen's mother, Teresa Bigelow, co-founded Safe Crossings as a direct result of the death of Colleen's father when she was seven years old. Having experienced such intense loss at such a young age (and witnessing her two younger brothers and her mother experience their own grief), Colleen will be forever dedicated to the cause of helping kids and families grieve. As an Executive Board member and past President of the Board, Colleen has supported the creation of an annual conference for grief-related service providers and has helped expand the types and number of programs Safe Crossings Foundation funds by instituting an annual granting fund.

Colleen is the digital marketing director with local start-up, HeadLight and has previously worked for Expedia and Slalom. Additionally, she has freelanced as a marketing consultant for many Seattle-based SMBs and nonprofits. She started her career in direct service with nonprofits, first with YouthBuild via Americorps and later by launching and running the GED program for YouthCare's Orion Center.

Colleen is mother to a 1.5 year old human, as well as a middle-aged dog, and an elderly cat. She lives with her son/dog/cat and husband, Benjamin, in beautiful West Seattle.

SCHEDULE

4:30 Doors open for guests at Elsom Cellars
5:15 Virtual doors open for guests on live stream
5:30 Salon begins
6:30 Salon ends; wine and food available
7:00 Last call

by NIck Hart