I was kidnapped once. Perhaps “abducted” would be a better word, I was in my twenties. I was in Jamaica with my then-wife, and the airline had lost our luggage, so we ventured out of the hotel into a local market. Two large men with a car convinced my ex that they were, in fact, […]
Recovery
The Unfounded Fear of Face to Face
There’s absolutely no way I’m going to tell you that online meetings and communities for support, discussion and enhancement of a recovery program aren’t an incredible resource. I’m thankful daily that this resource exists, and if participation is any factor in determining this site’s popularity, so are many other people. Online communities like this one […]
We Could Be Heroes
I’ve decided to upgrade; the title from this one is a Bowie lyric rather than Britney Spears. I hope you appreciate that. Most of the time when I’m writing these entries, I’m trying to illustrate my personal opinion on a certain aspect of sobriety, maybe trying to explain something that I feel I understand fairly […]
Sobriety as a Social Construct
One of the questions I see the most from people who have recently decided to try sobriety is the vague, but pertinent, “what do I do now?” It’s a good question, because if we really examine the reasons we were drinking to begin with, we’re now forced to address the issues drinking appeared to resolve […]
Postmodern Philosophy vs. 12-Step Recovery
know, inherently, that the title of this post itself is incredibly pretentious. I promise you, though, that I’ve got a point. When people refer to postmodernism, they’re talking about the pervasive sense of cynicism, irony and painful self-awareness in media and culture. What used to be funny is now, supposedly, stupid, cheap or lame. What […]
Oops, I did it again
Yes, I’m a 37 year-old man who used the title of a Britney Spears song for this blog post. So. Yeah. It happened again. I relapsed. I’ll get into the why – or at least what I think the true “why” of the relapse was – in just a moment. I first want to stress […]
Self Will Run Riot
When I first stepped through the doors of AA, I had heard this term used quite often. I never knew what it had really meant. All I could think of was the word “riot”. What did this mean? Surely, I had everything under control. Throughout my 30 plus years drinking and drugging I had my […]
More About Alcoholism
I have read the Alcoholics Anonymous book “The Big Book” several times over and have spent countless hours pondering and relating to the ideas in it. Bill W., one of the AA founders, was the author of the majority of it. Being new to recovery and accepting the fact of alcoholism as a disease can […]
Disease of mind and body
I recall distinctly, after going out on another binge, everybody I loved asking me, “I don’t understand, when your life and family and all you love is on the line, why you CHOOSE to drink.” The truth is, I didn’t understand it either. It was unexplainable. I had been in the program of AA for […]