Darling Child
Darling Child who's not a child anymore but will always be my baby,You've grown so much in your spirit that you sometimes question if you're still you. Still you, who you remember as shy, and sheltered- - though your peers have usually seen you as bold and...
Jennifer
I remembered the name of someone I knew when I was very little,before my assigned friend, both of us in second grade, moved in across the street.I searched on her name, and in Facebook. Didn’t find her.Hoping she was still here, that she made it. Such an addict...
What’s the Payoff
Verbal abuse, what’s the payoff?Distance, disconnection, abandonment.I don’t matter, I don’t belong; sense of community lost.No trust or accountability. No safety, no safe-harbor.Up in my tree as soon as I could get away.Comfort, nurture, understanding, support from...
2024 ACA WSO ABC Recovery Writers Delegate Report
As a first time delegate to the Annual Business Conference, I was there more as an observer than as an active participant. I voted on three ballot proposals in a manner that I believed would best serve ACA. My votes were in alignment with the majority decisions. I...
Conglomo Food
Brown bread in a can - soft, and with raisins, and no prep! Consistent. Available at any time. No love in it. Or was there?Sweet, predictable, always there. Packaged up from a conglomo company. Tater tots. Another conglomo food. Stuck in their little shape, unable to...
Playing Baseball is Like Working the 12 Steps
Au-delà de la survie
Il y a 35 ans, ma prof de tai-chi-chuan a exposé ses peintures « sumi-e », et ma « grand-mère de cœur » est tombée en arrêt devant celle-ci, puis me l’a offerte, en s’exclamant « C’est vraiment ton portrait ! » Oui, je pressentais déjà que j’étais une espèce de...
Powerless
What did Powerless mean to my inner child? I was powerless growing up in an incredibly controlling and narcissistic envelope, with players of various narcissistic flavors. No red flags here, all normalized. I was powerless over being assigned the role of family...
Lonely Had Become My Middle Name
Another shot at love.just to be met with scorn ending up with the shovecreating a feeling #forlorn.And I kept on trying.To connect with the outer worldand it felt like dyingwhile shadows danced and swirled.Alone again, alone in the darkWhy have you forsaken...
Reparenting
R is for reframing comments from my critical parent. She is trying to protect me in the only way she knows how. I can love her too. E is for enlightenment, illumination, and understanding. For education to my core, insight, discernment, and growing wisdom. And for...