Tragedy, grief, healing, and finding happiness | Kelsey Chittick

**Peter Attia** (0:11)
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My guest this week is Kelsey Chittick. Kelsey is a writer, comedian, and inspirational speaker. She's the author of Second Half, Surviving Loss and Finding Magic in the Missing, a book about the death of her husband, former NFL player Nate Hobgood-Chittick, who passed away suddenly at the age of 42 in front of their young children. She's also the co-creator of Keep On, a podcast that explores how the greatest obstacles can turn out to be the greatest gifts.
I wanted to talk with Kelsey after my wife read her book. Full disclosure, my wife and Kelsey are friends, and I saw Jill reading and crying through this book, which got me very interested in it, which ultimately led to me wanting to sit down with Kelsey, which I was able to do in person. This episode, we talk about Kelsey's background and that of her late husband, Nate, and of course how they met growing up, going to college together, being athletes. Talk about Nate's experience with football and how hard football is on the players' bodies and Nate's experiences post football. Speak about Nate's passing and in the aftermath, including finding out that Nate suffered from CTE. Speak about how Kelsey handled his death with her children and the trauma and grief they faced in the immediate aftermath and even today. Talk about how Kelsey was able to grieve while still finding ways to be happy and able to live her life post-Nate, which is really a nod to the title of this book, Second Half.
And we end the discussion around Kelsey's experiences with psychedelics, which played a really important role in her recovery and how it fit into this idea of radical acceptance, which anybody who's done DBT or done this type of work will be familiar with that terminology. So without further delay, please enjoy my conversation with Kelsey Chittick.
Hey Kelsey, thanks so much for making the time to come all the way to Austin. I really appreciate it. Although I'm not gonna take credit for the fact that you came here for this. I think this was an opportunistic time to sit down.

**Kelsey Chittick** (2:35)
For sure. I mean, I definitely did come here for this and there were some other great people here that I get to visit. It's perfect. So thank you for having me.

**Peter Attia** (2:43)
Yeah, I know my wife is really upset that you don't live here.

**Kelsey Chittick** (2:46)
It's funny because I went out with them last night and there's this draw to this place because there's a lot of good people here. And I think during COVID, I understood why everybody was leaving and I really couldn't stand LA. And there was just a thousand reasons the past couple of years have been hard, but all of a sudden, suddenly, I really love LA again. So I'm gonna hold, just visit you guys every month.
That's the plan.

**Peter Attia** (3:07)
So where'd you grow up?

**Kelsey Chittick** (3:09)
I grew up in Winter Park, Florida.

**Peter Attia** (3:11)
And when did you start swimming?

**Kelsey Chittick** (3:12)
I was probably four and I probably raced in my first race at six.

**Peter Attia** (3:18)
So when did you realize you were a good enough swimmer to be a collegiate swimmer?

**Kelsey Chittick** (3:22)
You know, it's funny, we talk about this with sports and kids these days. It just wasn't on our radar the way it is for kids now.
I lived in Florida.
You wanted to be outside. You wanted to be with your friends. So we swam. Little by little, I went a few races, 25 butterfly, something on backstroke.
And it was just something fun to do with your friends. So I don't even remember thinking about college until maybe ninth grade when I won. I think we got second at state. And in my sophomore year, I won state.

**Peter Attia** (3:50)
In what event?

**Kelsey Chittick** (3:50)