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
Tag: drinking
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
Why Keep Waiting for an Ending?
A friend of mine on Instagram, @soberincalifornia, writes beautiful posts about recovery. This morning, she wrote about how her personal growth has felt stagnant during this pandemic. “The truth is that I’ve used the pandemic as an excuse to ease up on the work that still needs to be done. I’ve gotten lazy in the Read More
If You’re Drinking on the Daily, That’s Your Underlying Health Condition
I had a brief, socially distanced conversation with a friend the other day that I can’t stop thinking about. The conversation was great, blessed socialization, until the end. Her closing comment, delivered in her best one-liner voice, was, “Well, since you don’t drink, I’m drinking enough for the both of us these days…” Haha. The Read More
A Week of Going and Doing
This last week contained a lot of going for me; more going than I’ve done in a long time. I returned to the classroom, which meant returning to commuting and arriving somewhere on time. A return to dropping my daughter off at school day-care, packing lunches and remembering all the things that enable you to Read More
Living in a Place of Mystery
Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe what we cannot see, and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty. Brene Brown This year, I have spent a lot of time in a place of mystery, and now I find myself living there yet again. Embracing the Read More
Remembrance of Things Past
Yesterday, I slid down the slippery slope of memory and floundered around at the bottom like a bug on its back. Normally, I don’t allow myself to dwell in the past. Much of it didn’t go as planned, and feelings of guilt and regret are all too happy to pounce, once I arrive. This trip Read More
Voice in My Head
Looking back, I am amazed at the ingenuity—the craftiness—of the addictive voice that controlled my thoughts and behaviors for so many years. It is still there, and probably always will be, piping in unexpectedly and trying to catch me off-guard. It is just quieter now, patient but sporadic, and a lot less convincing. A War Read More
Lives Made of Sand
“Like a sand castle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it. And when the time comes, let it go.” Jack Kornfield When I was 30 days sober I came across this quote on my Calm app, during my daily meditation, which I highly recommend when you are trying to get your mind and Read More
What Did You Want to Be?
Nobody plans on becoming a problem drinker; to let a substance take the driver’s seat and lead them down a road many don’t return from. No child colors a self-portrait of herself drinking her way through life. No teenager sits in front of a computer screen, composing a college essay and writes, “my future plans Read More