Tag: Features

I’m Open and Willing, Dear Sponsor, but Wait a Minute!

We know “our best thinking got us here,” but that doesn’t mean we need to be open and willing to take abuse or be manipulated. When you first came into the program, you might have heard your “best thinking got you here.” You’re told since your way hasn’t been working, maybe it’s time to try… Continue reading I’m Open and Willing, Dear Sponsor, but Wait a Minute!

When My “Give a F**k” Broke

I stood on the edge of this abyss and began my free fall to find healthy. I had nothing left to lose. “I am fine,” was my go to response for years. When anyone would ask, I would answer with that canned response, and if the typical follow up question was “Really?”, I was prepared.… Continue reading When My “Give a F**k” Broke

The Joys of Being Wrong

I am limited when I am in my own power, convinced of its sufficiency. I had initially thought to write this story – the story of a person once self-presumed irreparably broken who recently completed chemotherapy turned Ivy League law student in a sensible, stable long-distance relationship – once I had received official acceptance letters… Continue reading The Joys of Being Wrong

Language Sideways: The Poetry of Addiction

In what ways do current poems of addiction represent the minds of addicts in the throes of active disease as well as after the process of recovery’s begun? Something poet Sam Sax said in an interview for The Fix has me thinking about poetry and addiction. “Poetry for me,” he told writer Christian Arthur, “is… Continue reading Language Sideways: The Poetry of Addiction

Is There Life After AA?

I was fed up with the fear-based conditioning of being told that if I left, I wouldn’t stay sober, and I was tired of the constant message that my future was up to some mystic higher power. When I walked into my first AA meeting, I felt like I was broken into a million pieces.… Continue reading Is There Life After AA?

PTSD Service Dogs Are Saving Lives

“If I could pin a medal on Aura, I would,” Evans asserts. “I feel safe in my own world since I’ve had Aura. She’s life saving.” United States Army Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans’ life changed forever in 2006. This was her ninth combat tour since joining the Army in 1979. It was early spring,… Continue reading PTSD Service Dogs Are Saving Lives

Jackie Kashian: From Drunk Driver to Hero of This Story

I would love to just check out with booze. But whatever I want to check out from will still be there when I sober up – plus whatever drunken stealing, screwing or hitting I did while I was drunk will have to be fixed. Last summer, I had a 12-step sponsor who counted performing as… Continue reading Jackie Kashian: From Drunk Driver to Hero of This Story

Relapsing While Famous: Demi Lovato, Stigma, and Compassion

“We would typically not blame a patient with a chronic medical condition for their problem; nor imbue the patient with shame over their offending organ—why do we seem to do this with addiction?” The news that Demi Lovato was hospitalized of a suspected drug overdose has sent her celebrity friends and fans into overdrive; they… Continue reading Relapsing While Famous: Demi Lovato, Stigma, and Compassion

"I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much": Judith Vigna’s Misguided Bibliotherapy

Vigna seems convinced that a few watercolor washes can make the world a better place, but her idealism is misguided; stories of the horrible undercurrent of the real world are more likely to scare children. Although the following review is not positive, I empathize with what Judith Vigna tried to accomplish. In the late 1980’s,… Continue reading "I Wish Daddy Didn't Drink So Much": Judith Vigna’s Misguided Bibliotherapy

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