Comline Blog

Inner Critic

Inner Critic

I hear her voice in my head: “God forbid a stranger should find fault with you.” Such an event would of course embarrass the whole family. I wonder how many generations have heard this — I had heard two — then repeated it when they became parents. “God forbid that a...

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Together Alone

Together Alone

Mom’s on the couch, Dad’s in the den with his gin Two different worlds with a 10-foot wall in betweenHe yells out “that TV show is crap”But I love Lucy because she makes Mom laughTogether alone we live in this homeLeft to our own devicesHiding the pain inside...

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Step Three Remembers

Step Three Remembers

Trust is something natural, normal—a starting place of innocence. It is part of who I am. A frightened baby is a child experiencing a kind of trauma—an experience of shock or pain. It is an injury in need of healing. Reassurance is like a gentle, soothing lotion being...

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Step Ten

Step Ten

Stay safe enough is a recovery goal. Before I experienced adverse conditions, I was an innocent child. Am I going to be restored to that state and condition again? Is it safe? “I don’t have an answer to that question, ‘are we going to become entirely free of the...

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