As a student, he was involved in a drunk-driving incident that killed a cyclist. Years later he would become expert in the healing powers of guilt

"At some point, later in the night, Chris Moore and three friends were ready to leave. The party was some way out of town Cambridge and too far to walk, and, anyway, there was a car, temptingly, in the driveway, its keys in the ignition. Somebody Moore can't remember who suggested they drive back, and with the recklessness of youth and too much beer, they all got in."

"I ended up in the front passenger seat and fell asleep, he says. He came to, being taken out of the car by paramedics, then sitting by the side of the road, his face streaming with blood, surrounded by the lights of the emergency services. They had been in an accident, and Moore had hit the windscreen, asleep, and had deep lacerations on his forehead. He was the only one of the four who had been injured."

Chris Moore and three friends drove from a late-night party after drinking; a passenger fell asleep and the car struck a cyclist, killing him. Moore suffered deep lacerations and was the only physically injured occupant. The incident provoked a tumult of emotions—horror, massive regret, and fear about consequences for himself and loved ones—intertwined as complex guilt. Guilt functioned as a roiling mix of negative emotions rather than a single feeling. Acknowledging and embracing healthy or productive guilt is preferable to hiding from it. Moore lives in Canada and the experience highlights guilt's potential role in motivating repair and responsibility.

Read at www.theguardian.com