We spent my birthday, also the Fourth of July, at the beach. I grew up near the beach but now live about 2.5 hours away, so there are times I only visit the ocean once a year or so. Each time, I am transported to my happy place; a full sensory experience. The waves are Read More
Category: Alcohol Addiction
Here is Everything
This week, I lived. Living consisted of teaching, being a parent, and a wife. Running a house, helping a friend, caring for my dog. Exercise, dentist appointments, rapid-Covid-19 tests, high school volleyball games, coffee, and books. Riding the wave from sleepy Monday morning, to exhausted Friday afternoon. Nothing life-changing, or earth-shaking, but I’m so glad Read More
Recovery Spotlight: Women For Sobriety
A few days ago, I received a warm hug through the mail. My fellow blogger and dear friend Barb, sent me a Rosie Recovery Strong Women Coin to mark by second soberversary. And of course, a lovely card accompanied it, as it wouldn’t be Barb without the little extra. This acknowledgement of the two-year mark Read More
Choosing Me (Rather than Changing Me)
If you follow my blog or even just read it from time to time, you know I consider myself on a wellness journey. This journey began when I stopped drinking and started choosing me. Me over what society expects of me. Me rather than a version of myself crafted by norms and group think. When Read More
Scarcity or Abundance: You decide.
Anyone who feels led, or perhaps forced, to make a lifestyle change has the opportunity to choose their perspective. Do we want to spend the remainder of our lives putting in time and feeling left out or deprived? Or, do we set out on a journey to let our downfall transform our path into something Read More
For Everything There is a Season
Anyone who has spent a large portion of their life stuck in addiction undergoes a major transformation once they break free. A course correction. A process of reassessing life and how it should be lived. An embracing of their true self; and of possibility. But it’s not clean-cut and tidy. There are pieces to pick Read More
Two Years of Sobriety: It is what it is
I’m glad I didn’t have any expectations around my second soberversary because it looks like it will be a party of one. COVID life is a great teacher of harboring no expectations. And while most people mark March 13 as the day the world shut down, I mark it as another year sober. My husband Read More
Sunday Meditation: Loving Without an Agenda
Our society runs on agendas. Your day may run on a this type of itemized list. Agendas aid in organization and productivity. But what about the agenda that we don’t write on a page, but compose in our hearts and minds? This type of agenda, sometimes called a “hidden agenda” is often formulated without our Read More
Goodbye to Drinking Island
It’s funny how the brain romanticizes things that no longer serve us. A glass of chilled Chardonnay, the ex-boyfriend, sharing a drag off a cigarette in the crisp fall air, the thrill of moving a pile of plastic chips across a green felt table. We could have said goodbye and made our peace weeks, months Read More
Doing the Best We Can
“Not all addictions are rooted in abuse or trauma, but I do believe they can all be traced to painful experience. A hurt is at the centre of all addictive behaviours.” Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Dr. Gabor Mate, whose above mentioned book I am about to dive into, believes that addiction Read More