She survived.
Mostly integrated and whole.
Despite the best efforts of parents
who denied her feelings
and exhorted her to smile, smile, smile.
Despite the best efforts of all the bullies
who saw in her open heart an open wound
to cut her in her deepest place
because they could.
Sometimes, I wish I had a pair of rose-colored glasses.
But sadly, the price for wearing them is not worth the cost
to my sobriety, abstinence, solvency, and health.
My recovery path has been all about facing reality,
walking through pain,
and getting to the other side.
It was never about getting there unscathed.
[Artwork by Susan B. @HealingDoodle]
If you knew you’d never earn
another penny from your art,
Would you still soldier on?
Or would it break your heart?
Continue reading “If You Knew You’d Never Earn Another Penny from Your Writing…”
It’s impossible to go through life
never making
a mistake
or a poor decision
or overreacting.
So why can’t I
just
forgive myself,
learn from the experience,
and
move on
without
first
drowning in
shame
and
self-loathing?
In my experience,
Hope
does not
spring
nor is it eternal
Instead,
when least expected,
it creeps up
and pushes through the darkness
like a birth.
And my mind
can extinguish it
as easily as blowing out
a candle flame.
For recovering addicts,
the holy grail is
the pause,
the gap.
This is the moment where we have
a Choice.
But it is only in Recovery
that we can Hope to be
Graced with the
Ability and Willingness
to sit still
in that
moment.
Sometimes, chronic illness causes
Unrelenting symptoms
That make me want to escape
Just for a little while.
A toxic recipe for a recovering addict.
My Muse
Behaves like a recalcitrant employee
Bitching and complaining
Before finally doing their job.
Deep, heaving breaths came from the cancer-riddled lungs of our beloved cocker spaniel. Sidney had been part of our family since he was 11 weeks old. And now, 13 years later, he was helplessly gasping for air.
Jay and I knew it was time to make the hardest decision facing a pet parent.
I recently returned from an amazing trip seeing friends and family. On the last leg of our journey, we stayed with a dear friend of mine who shared a unique perspective on problem-solving that was both funny and amazingly relevant to my own life. So I’d like to pass it on to you.
We were talking about handling challenging situations. Now, my friend is a dog, cat, horse, fox, goose, snake, you name it, whisperer. She can train any living creature.
She told me a story about a man whose dog kept eating out of the trash can. He was utterly miserable and at his wit’s end on what to do about it.
So how should he handle it, she asked me? I started coming up with possible strategies (from many years of watching Cesar Millan on TV).
Continue reading “Just Move the Trash Can”
Healing Doodle 