You’re in a recovery program, perhaps working the steps. You’ve checked your list and crossed off the names of people you’ve made amends to. Things are going well and then your eyes fix on your fingers. They’re bitten to the quick nubby and sore. Your cuticles look destroyed and torn and you even spot a scab of dried blood. Crap

What is the difference between striving and thriving? The general understanding of the words is the difference between making strenuous effort and flourishing. To me it is the difference between getting clean and recovering. Both efforts are important. One got me to the gift of desperation; the other keeps me on my road to restoring my

“Happy Hour” has a complicated history of origin, but regardless of who and how (The French or the American Navy) there was a collective awareness that at a certain time of the day between 3-7 p.m. people are at the end of their will power. The end of their blood sugar. The end of working hard.

I stood on the playground in my green, parent-volunteer apron. Kids were eating, playing, running, sliding, screaming. A fifth grader carrying a lunch tray frantically ran toward me and then screeching to a halt. His eyes bulged. He looked like he was going to throw up. But there was no sound. Oh my God are you

      My friend’s daughter broke her wrist. I looked at her picture and immediately felt her pain and joined the chorus of others – “Ouch and poor baby!” But then I looked closely at the cast. Scrawled in red were the words: I HEAL FAST. What a concept. Broadcast “I heal quickly” to the world, to

I am on the verge of a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. When I faced disappointment today, I recognised something about myself that came out in this poem. The stereotype Borderline Personality Disorder sufferer is reactive outwardly. I am not. I wanted to share this. I live in words unspoken, the shore you see, gives no indication

I have been on this planet for a while – and in my recovery just about half as long. I have seen society go through a number of shifts regarding women, and I have seen women go through a number of shifts regarding themselves. The rooms of recovery have changed in response to both of

When entering recovery we embark upon a journey with many new perspectives from different sources that can help us heal from a seemingly hopeless state of existence. Lots of options and information. However, as women we are often the main caretakers in our environments and have many roles we need to attend to. Our own

Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery through the use of a lacquer resin sprinkled with gold powder to mend the broken pieces back together.  At some point in the 15th Century, the Japanese started to employ this technique.  Collectors everywhere started to clamor after these repaired pieces because they were seen to

Matters of the heart are generally a big issue for people in recovery. Not only from the emotional aspect, as we learn to come to terms with our past, but also from a physical sense, having spent years abusing our bodies recklessly. So what mends a broken heart? Self-care is always the first port of