Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
“There are no extraordinary individuals , just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary individuals are forced to deal with.“ ~ William Halse I’ve been lucky enough in life to know individuals who lived through extraordinary circumstances and who, because of the way they dealt with them, showed me a thing or two about how to deal with my own. 1962 was a bitter year for me. My father … Continue reading When Life Throws Us the Extraordinary
“Interdependence is a fact, not an option.” ~ Peter Coyote For the longest time I took comfort in being my own boss. I loved my independence; I thought I was stronger, smarter, more effective when I worked alone. When I worked with others it meant having to make compromises. History, however, proved me wrong. I wasn’t, in fact, stronger, smarter or more effective alone. Quite … Continue reading Give Me Ethics Like Geese
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” ~ Abraham Lincoln (First Inaugural Address) But where are those better angels? It is said when Lincoln was preparing his … Continue reading Finding Our Better Angels
Where are the Good Men? Charlie Brown has always been for me an illustration of goodness, a kind of compass that points to true north. Before I got sober, I sometimes felt like Alice in Wonderland when she slipped down the rabbit hole: reality no longer mattered, truth had become fiction, good people were now bad, heroes now villains. When I climbed out from my … Continue reading Finding Goodness
The other night I had a dream. I was running — from what, I don’t know; to where, I can’t say — but running as fast as I could. The end was hazy. All I know for sure is that I never got away. I never do. I’ve had some version of this dream all my life. But my guess is I’m not alone. If … Continue reading Mending the BIG Memory