Engine-Like
I know nothing about engines, except the four-stroke combustion cycle: 1) induction (fuel enters), 2) compression, 3) explosion, 4) expansion (exhaust out). At the emotional level, things worked similarly for me: Induction: my father’s and other authority...
Alien Invader
Twenty-four years old: Someone treats me with contempt. Someone views me as worthless. Someone disrespects me. A bureaucrat treats me as an object – a thing to be discarded. Anger churns within. Without thinking, I retaliate. A...
Quatre postures
1. CoupableIl y a longtemps, je suis sortie de mon déni matrimonial : mes rêves de maternité ne se réaliseraient jamais, je n’étais guère qu’une cocue risible, il devenait urgent d’abandonner mon bénévolat idéaliste, trouver un vrai boulot, apprendre à vivre par...
Open To Receive
Early in my recovery, I thought if I could just figure out a way to remove all of the defects that I perceived in myself, I would be able to live a happier life. Accepting that I had experienced trauma in my early life was easier for me than figuring out what to “do”...
Socializing
Reaching out.Loathing the risk.Shaking hands.Putting on the smile.Saying something inane.Doubting all the while. Cheery and chipper.Everyone’s favorite.All the while feeling insane.Seeming secure in the limelight.Pretending to be calmDoubting all the while. Reaching...
Spotlight on the WSO Board: Erin D.
Erin D. from Pennsylvania, USA, has served as a WSO Trustee since 2019. She will be stepping down from the Board of Trustees at the end of her term of service after the 2023 ABC. In this interview, we learn more about Erin, her experience as a Board member, and her...
A Pantoum on the Adrenals
Freeze - All attention must be on the current crisis.Freeze - I spend most of my day waiting for a crisis. Freeze - All resources must be ready to be deployed in the crisis.Freeze - All resources on constant standby.Freeze - I spend most of my day waiting for a...
Step Five: “Admitted What Is True.”
Insights are a blessing. Catching on to how I’ve done my best—however silly that may look now, looking back, preparing myself to complete Step Five—isn’t that a breeze that lifts my kite! If I am honest, really honest, my heart is filled to overflowing with—of all...
Good Enough for Me
It was love at first sight, even though I sprayed my drink in your faceTrying to suppress a guffaw at your antics.Sure you were 15 years my elder, and an alcoholic to boot,But that was good enough for me.I went along for the ride as you steered your beat up FordTo the...
Step Five: “Admitted To A Power…”
Waiting for a sign: It is not necessary to know in advance what will become of what I do today. I show up. I remind myself that I am a person with a life—with goals, with hopes, with questions, and with needs I cannot and do not want to ignore. It is okay to be this...