Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. John Maxwell It’s safe to say most of us don’t like change. And yet, if stuck in the same rut for too long, we begin to crave something different. When I quit drinking, it was a summoning of courage I didn’t believe I possessed. Blind faith; trust in God Read More
Leaving the Nest
Hello Friends: I know it’s been awhile. I’m occupying a place of contradiction; busy yet still, full yet unsatisfied, grateful yet melancholy. I struggle with feeling I’ve nothing new to say, yet I want to make my voice heard. A month ago, I hung a spring wreath on my door made of twigs and pink Read More
Four Years Ago Today
Hi, my name is Collette, and I’m not an alcoholic. But I did drink too much for many, many years. I did make some really bad choices under the influence of alcohol. I did make hundreds of decisions to moderate, and was unsuccessful every time. And I finally came to the conclusion that the only Read More
Weekend Book Review: Bewilderment
Bewilderment by Richard Powers My rating: 4 of 5 stars Genre: Fiction, Dystopian Fiction Edition Reviewed: Audiobook, Unabridged Published September 21st 2021 by Random House Audio “The laws that govern the light from a firefly in my backyard as I write these words tonight also govern the light emitted from an exploding star one billion light-years Read More
Small Steps
Happy new year! I’ve noticed that a year has a cycle of its own: The hopeful, verdant productivity of spring; the hot, leisurely lull of summer; the nostalgic, fire-colored winding down of fall; the final determined frosty push of winter. After December, though winter has still some proving to do, we turn to a new Read More
Weekend Book Review: Drinking Games
Drinking Games by Sarah Levy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Genre: Memoir/Quit Lit Edition Reviewed: Audiobook, narrated by author, produced by MacMillan Audio Expected publication: January 3rd 2023 by St. Martin’s Press Drinking Games by Sarah Levy is an honest deep-dive into the life of a problem-drinker-turned-sober Millennial. In it, she describes not only Read More
Discomfort and Joy
Here in the thick of the holiday season, I’m feeling the confluence of discomfort and joy. I know it’s supposed to be comfort, right? “Let nothing you dismay…” Well, when you’re sober, you realize just how frequently the holidays present us with situations and circumstances that you’d rather drink away or through. When the old Read More
It was exactly how I thought it would be
My son called from college last night, and I sat down to catch up with him on the past few weeks. Last weekend, he was to attend a social event with his girlfriend put on by her sorority and their partner fraternity. She’d been asking him repeatedly to go to one of these functions but Read More
Weekend Book Review: Lessons in Chemistry
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus My rating: 5 of 5 stars Genre: Historical Fiction Edition reviewed: Audiobook, Unabridged Published April 5th 2022 by Random House Audio “As humans, we’re by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lackluster educational systems, and choosers of our behaviors. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, Read More
Weekend Book Review: Mountain Song
Mountain Song: A Journey to Finding Quiet in the Swiss Alps by Lucy Fuggle My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mountain Song: A Journey to Finding Quiet in the Swiss Alps by Lucy Fuggle opens with the author turning a familiar wish into reality, as she rents a quaint house, in a tiny village called Read More