I dream of walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela one day. The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. Movies like Wild and The Way […]
If you show up at a 12-step meeting for friends and family members, it won’t take long before someone tells you to mind your own business. “You need to get out of God’s way” is usually the next piece of advice. Out in the world when we tell someone to mind their own business it […]
In the first pages of every book is a dedication page. Authors use this page to offer up the work that they have created to someone they hope to honor. During the final stages of edits, I was asked to begin thinking about who I wanted to dedicate my work to. My answer came quickly: […]
I went to the doctor last week for my semi-annual appointment. He asked me how I was feeling to which I said, “fine.” I thought it was casual conversation. Again, he asked, “Are you feeling okay?” At this point, I was starting to wonder myself. “I think so.” I said, meaning it. “Well your blood […]
My recovery requires me to let go of my loved ones. I can’t do this without a strong faith in God. It only requires a small amount to start… […]
You might be surprised by what the face of recovery really looks like. […]
Back in July, my parish book club read my book, Helping Families Recover from Addiction. After they finished, they invited me to speak to their small group (5-7 people). When I walked into the room there were almost 10 people present. By the time we started, that number climbed to 20. I believe that my […]
“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter which fork you use.” Emily Post Thinking of my southern grandmother immediately calls to mind the smell of warm yeast rolls, cooling on a kitchen rack, fresh out of the oven. But, it also […]
I wonder if over-the-top portrayal of addiction frightens people enough to hide… Often when I see a movie or tv show about addiction, I change the channel. I bristle when there is an over the top portrayal of the disease. It’s like hearing someone with no real knowledge of how a southern accent sounds trying […]
In my 12-step community, we talk about boundaries a lot. Boundaries are one of the best tools that we have. They are so important that entire books have been written on the subject. Since, I’m busy these days, I wanted to look for a small dose of information. Brene Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart: Mapping […]