Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Campbell
Hi Meg, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m mom to three beautiful humans, I’m also a teacher, licensed school counselor, lover of the outdoors (especially mountain running and skiing), and I’m passionate about supporting families through separation/divorce.
At the intersection of my own divorce, education and profession (working in K-12 education for 13+ years and obtaining my MEd in Psychology), I’ve started supporting partners uncouple with more emotional intelligence, grace and gratitude; as well as educating parents around how to positively fosters the cognitive, social and emotional development of kids through separation/divorce.
I recently published my first book: With Grace and Gratitude, A Memoir of Uncoupling, Co-Parenting and Collective Healing. This memoir documents over five years of my divorce and the aftermath. Through the context of my own story I revisit various crossroads, highs and lows, intentions, and stories of what I feel gives the most honest look into my experience of divorce, and what has allowed my family to heal and thrive despite, even because of divorce.
Divorce altered some personal metrics. I ran the 50-mile traverse of Zion National Park shortly after my divorce. The last five miles were hellishly hot and rough, my whole body aching with 45 miles already behind me; but this was nothing compared to the pain of taking off my wedding ring for the last time, or telling my kids their dad was moving out.
I’ve worked to connect the dots between leaving a church (a particularly strict one, with warnings of a dire fate when abandoned) and my divorce. I’m learning the difference between personal core-values I want to live in line with, versus inherited and indoctrinated values I’ve only relatively recently grew aware I could challenge.
A few years post-divorce, my unconventional family backpacked through Buckskin Gulch. Buckskin Gulch is an impressive slot canyon in Southern Utah. At about 13 miles long, Buckskin is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the United States, believed to also be the longest in the world. I marveled at my co-parenting relationship, at our ability to still move our family safely through these beautiful and wild places together.
Ultra-running, a religious exodus, family desert and mountain adventures are part of my divorce story. While my divorce is personal and unique, I also trust themes of my memoir are generalizable: faith in what is real and honest over fear of the unknown, embracing abundance over succumbing to scarcity, choosing courage over comfort. Small consistent actions over time and with fidelity to these values shaped my divorce story, my present-day life that I love.
While I never planned to pursue a path that’d transform me into such a proponent of divorcing differently, here I find myself—adamantly advocating for the best and brightest potential outcomes for all family members affected by it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Divorce is anything but smooth; no one gets married planning for it to end in divorce (despite the prevalent statistic that nearly half will).
In my memoir, I write, “Divorce is a long damn process with side effects that’ll need revisiting and resolving for a long damn time. I don’t say this to be negative or discouraging, but to hopefully help manage some expectations and keep perspective.”
At the beginning of our divorce journey, my former husband and I resolved to honor a joint intention that we would filter our words, decision and conduct through the question of, “how will this affect our family?” Even when we could hardly stand to look at or speak to each other, we remained adamant about protecting our kids and prioritizing their well-being through this huge change they didn’t want or choose themselves. We wanted to ensure they understood: 1) This (divorce) is a choice parents make and has nothing to do with you, 2) We love you so much, always and unconditionally and 3) We are forever a family, our family will look different and we understand this change is hard and scary, but no one is leaving you and we can do hard things because we have each other.
It is never your kids’ role to hold your adult pain, rage or sorrow. It takes a massive amount of work and self-awareness to ensure you never ask them to through the season of divorce.
We’ve been impressed with Meg Campbell Coaching, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I have worked as a parent education consultant, facilitated Love and Logic curriculum for over 11 years, co-created the Girls Guide to Thriving Through Middle School (available on Women’s Best Life University), and more recently started supporting parents and families through the huge life transition of divorce.
My coaching practice evolved rather organically, with friends and acquaintances who witnessed my own divorce advising others going through something similar to reach out for support. (I am overjoyed and humbled that those who watched my uncoupling up close have positive and complimentary feedback and are quick to refer others!)
I am currently working toward my Clinical Mental Health Counseling license so I may continue to support these families in a capacity that is more accessible! (I empathize with the reality many divorcing couples are unable to afford uncoupling support, despite also believing it is invaluable to the family – why I am passionate about obtaining a clinical license that will allow me to bill insurance.)
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Love and be present with your people!
I wrote in my memoir: “COVID-19 had reached Utah in the spring of 2020, and almost overnight our everyday lives looked very different. Schools had just closed, everything was getting canceled; we were reading and hearing about the devastation this novel virus was causing in other parts of the world, especially Italy, and wondering if the US was next. We collectively witnessed the principle of scarcity in action, unable to find toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or something as random as my favorite Highlander Grogg coffee anywhere. We’d all been instructed to practice social distancing and stay home as much as possible; there was a sense of ambiguous loss all around and a lot of unknowns. Able to recognize the magnitude and far-reaching consequences of this pandemic, I felt almost guilty that my little bubble was relatively unaffected. If anything, I appreciated the forced slowdown and was loving all the extra and unique time I had with my kids and close friends.”
Pricing:
- Paperback Memoir, available on Amazon: $15.99
- Ebook, available on Amazon: $2.99, or read for free with KindleUnlimited
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.megcampbellcoaching.com/
- Instagram: megcampbellcoaching
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5RMX857
