From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

I’ve been humming…

This past week-end I went to see the movie “Julie and Julia,” a story about a young woman who decides to make every one of Julia Child’s 524 recipes in her famous book in the period of one year and write a blog about it.  She becomes obsessed with this project and as she progresses through each recipe, she becomes more like Julia Child, even to the point of wearing a single strand of pearls, just like Julia’s.  The movie also is about the real Mrs. Child and how she got her start in cooking and became the icon for…

I thought I had reached a point in my recovery where I was taking pretty good care of myself.  After all, I only smoke moderately, only drink 4-5 MUGS of coffee a day, go to the gym, go to meetings, meditate, volunteer - put all that stuff in a bowl, mix until smooth and you have a pretty healthy life…..or so I told myself.  But lately I’ve begun to realize that maybe all that coffee might be a contributing factor to my nervousness (Duh!!!) and perhaps the tar and nicotine that I suck into my lungs on a daily basis…

Every day I receive an e-mail from a wonderful site, gratefulness.org. This month the daily reflections are from one of my favorite Buddhist Teachers and Monks, Tich Nhat Hanh.  I share this with you - read it slowly and keep it in your heart.

Till Next Time -

Your Humble Road Warrior

If you do not know how to be patient, how to care, how to use loving speech, you cannot help other people to change. But if we have the energy of compassion and loving kindness in us, the people around us will be influenced by our way of being and living.…

The addict in my life is in jail.  Got arrested yesterday.  The call was very confusing - something about old warrants that supposedly had already been taken care of - I didn’t listen very closely.  He asked me  to make 3 phone calls, which I did.  He asked me to look into 3 long term rehab facilities, which I said I would not do….too little too late. I’ve been mulling over our relationship a lot lately and have definitely come to the conclusion that this man is my drug of choice.  Regardless of the reason - control issues, being the…

I just found out last night that my family is getting together back home in Chicago for a reunion of sorts.  My eldest sister has been the matron of our family for many years.  She has the big house where everyone gathers for holidays and get-togethers.  I basically lived with her when I was in college, taking care of her two daughters, which was one of the most joy-filled periods in my life.  My feelings for these girls (now adult women with babies of their own) are almost the same as I have for  my own child.

My sister (and my…

I just want to put in a plug for a new treatment center that just opened this week on South Padre Island, Texas.  It’s called Origins and a friend of mine from New Jersey, Pete Marinelli has put his heart and soul into this project to help the sick and suffering addict still out there.  Pete has 20 years of soberiety and I met him one evening when I happened to be in The Garden State and hit an AA meeting.  He introduced himself, sat next to me and made me feel at home.  He’s got a great Jersey accent and ever…

I’m working from home this morning.  It’s a grey day, humid and rainy and I don’t have the energy to get in the shower right now, get dressed, and go to the office.  That’s okay.  I’m allowed this time.  So often I think I have to “perform” - to make sure I’m always busy, being productive, getting things done.  My life is chaos incorporated and I forget that down time is just as important as “up” time.

Last night I went to my Nia class.  For me, this is my 90 minute get-away where my body, mind and spirit take a…

I just watched a speech by Christopher Kennedy Lawford from that was delivered in May for inexcesstv.com.  In 28 minutes, he barely took a breath and I was stuck to the screen like white on rice.  He is a bold speaker, right in your face, telling it like it is - speaks openly about his addiction and the hold it has had on his very famous family.  I know someone who has met him and says he has a bit of an ego, but watching this video - so direct - so honest -so raw - kind of gave me…

Well, it’s been 6 days since my infamous decompensation on Main Street, when I found my active addict actively acting out  his addiction.  First of all, thanks to all of you who commented on my blog.  I am so grateful to you guys for the warm fuzzies.  So, as I said, I have been taking care of myself - really, Scout’s Honor - and life has been much more fluid the past couple of days.  I have been taken out to dinner (twice) and I didn’t have to pay - imagine that! All my doggies are, once again, sleeping with…

by Richard G. Hartnett

It’s taken me a very long time to read Richard Hartnett’s new book, “SOBRIETY and INSPIRATION - Entrusting Ourselves to the Source of Our Healing and Creativity.” Although this book is written in a language that is very comfortable, it is a very thorough description of the process  involved in finding self-healing, recovery from addictions and and actually how to  enjoy the process while you’re doing it.  This book cannot be read like a work of fiction.  It must be read slowly so that the reader may ingest, then digest each topic Mr. Hartnett addresses.  This is…

It happened again.  It just happened last week so I thought I was safe for at least a few more days. It was payday…..he works at the bookstore at the community college he attends.  He was going to put in a few hours of work, then study for a group project for his “Human Development” class.  He usually calls a couple of times during the day.  Yesterday - no calls - I already knew.  I called at 4:30, he answered and said he had just gotten off the bus and was heading toward my office to see me.  My stomach…

I had a dream the other night - you know, one of those crazy spaces where you’re someplace but you’re really not there.  I was in a huge office space with hundreds of cubicles neatly stacked in rows so that they all looked identical from the end of the room.  However, the flooring in the hallway next to my cubicle was linoleum instead of carpet so I always knew where I was.  I was all alone, waiting for the rest of the  “company” to move in from some far away place (I think it was Los Angeles - that’s far…

by Carrie Fisher

My very best friend just sent me an early birthday present.  It is a copy of “Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher.  I read it in one sitting.  I read “Postcards From The Edge” many years ago and some of the things Ms. Fisher talks about in this book are remembrances of things past, but this time we see a different Carrie Fisher - one that has been through a  ECT (Electric Shock Therapy), and has awakened to a dead gay man in her bed to name a few.  Sounds just a bit bizarre, but then Ms. Fisher’s life…

by Noah Levine

I read a lot of books.  I barely put one down before I pick up another.  I often don’t remember authors, titles and other such trivialities of the written word, but for the last two days I have been taken to another place - the land of Noah Levine in his book “Dharma Punx.”  When I got the book I wasn’t crazy about the title or the synopsis - a punk rocker who find the middle way?  Yeah, right - that’s right up my alley.  I, a middle class, middle age woman can readily identify with the punk…

I just realized that it’s been two weeks since I’ve written anything on my own damn site.  I’ve been so busy lately with doing the other necessary things one has to do to keep a website up that I’ve neglected to even stop for a second and do a little reflecting in printed form.  Right now it is the 4th of July, I’m sitting on my deck, the dogs lazily scattered around me.  The weather is beautiful - 77 degrees - the trees surround me as I sit here in quiet, finally taking time to be still.  I’ve had to…

I just got back from a trip where I spent 4 days with some of the craziest people I have ever met.  They were hysterical, loud, outspoken, friendly, easy to get along with and had the combined energy of a major nuclear force.  They were also therapists, radio hosts, interviewers, marketing people, movers and shakers, business people and…..were all in recovery.  And we’re not talking 3 martini lunches here - we’re talkin’ crack heads, heroine addicts and any other illegal or illicit substance available.  All had been there, come through and were now paying it forward.

Each morning we spent working…

Here’s a great little clip by William White to get you thinking.  Watch it and let me know what you think.

Till Next Time -

You Humble Road Warrior

It’s a Wednesday afternoon and for the past 13 days I have been taking care of one of Melissa’s nieces while she has been attending to her dad’s illness and death.  It’s been a long time since I’ve lived with an ll year old and even then, it was a boy.  This girl is witty, gregarious, adorable,  in many ways much older than her biological age suggests, can be a pain in the butt and has been stuck to my side.  She’s been with me because she goes to a private school that got out on May 21 (sounds a…

Today, June 1, 2009 - The 30th anniversary of my little sister’s death.

May 30, 2009 - William Shore, father of Melissa, Laura and Jeff, died from cancer

May 28, 2009 - Bill W., our blogger, lost his granddaughter in an alcohol related accident.

May 21, 2009 - 21st anniversary of the death of my mother, Virginia, to cancer.

In the 10 days I have been faced with or reminded of death - it is inevitable, I know.  The day we are born, we begin to die - that’s just the way it is.  My sister was too young and yet, for her, I…

Last Saturday, May 30, 2009, Melissa Shore, our Executive Director, lost her father to cancer.  Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Thanks,

Your Humble Road Warrior

I am sick and tired of everything and everyone in my life today (except, of course, my doggies).  I want to throw a tantrum, to break dishes, to spray paint a vulgarity on someone’s house.  I want to pinch a baby, to give a total stranger the finger as I drive by.  I want it to stop being dark and rainy.  I want to be a size 8 (I’ve never been a size 8, except for 3 weeks in 1984) and I want everyone in my life to feel what I feel like right at this moment.  I am sick…

Melissa and I had the honor to be interviewed on the webcast, The Afflicted and Affected, with host Chris Schroeder.  Not only can you see what we really look like, you can see how The Second Road got started, and what we’re up to now.

Till Next Time -

Your Humble Road Warrior

It’s almost 6:00 in the morning. I’m sitting on my back deck, coffee to my right, cigarettes to my left, laptop on my lap. One of my doggies is lying to my right, chewing on a rawhide bone and the neighborhood is taking on that beigy-gray color right before one sees the forehead of the son peek over the Eastern horizon. I’ve been up for an hour – ever since I heard the dogs bark, saw the car driving in a staccato semi-circle around my cul-de-sac and saw the man/boy get out of the car in front of my yard…

Be careful what you ask for - ever heard that?  Well, I’ve been very bold lately - asking my HP to “get on the ball” and get things moving in my life, and in my job.  I bluntly told her “Okay, I’ve waited long enough….been patient beyond the realms even Job could envision, and have held a (somewhat) steady course.  I WANT A SIGN AND I WANT IT NOW!”

Every since The Second Road launched 18 months ago, we have worked our collective  butts off to keep the site updated, new and fresh, well written; a place that is  a resource…

Just got back from one of my favorite meetings.  Whenever I am able to get to this meeting, I always leave with some juicy fruit of recovery that I can spiritually chew on for a good long time.

Today the topic was “perseverance” and many people had some really insightful perspectives to share.  As I sat and listened, I first thought about perseverance in the sense of “working my program” one day at a time, even when I didn’t want to.  Some days are easy, some are not, but as long as I keep doing what I know will work, there’s…

Rick Ohrstrom, or “Bulldog” as he is otherwise known, is the CEO of C4Recovery Solutions, a website dedicated to improving the effectiveness of substance use disorder prevention and recovery services.  Right now he is in The Middle East, reaching out to those who would otherwise not hear this important message of recovery.  We at TSR just received this update on his adventures in Gaza.  For the next 5 days I will be posting it in parts.

Follow this amazing man’s journey as he tries to spread the word of recovery.  You can also find him at SoberBulldog.com

GAZA GAZETTE
At first glance the…

I started my journey along “the middle path” when I was in jail, doing time for the results of my addiction.   One day the book cart came by and I stuck my hand through the bars and grabbed a little white book, the binding of which was tattered and torn.  The title was “Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer” by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk with the ability to blend the spiritualities of the East and West into a beautiful quilt of the practice of gratitude.  When I finished that book, my dear friend, Eleanor started to send me…

So, I get up this morning, it’s a new day and all is right with the world … I’ve got places to go, people to see and things to do.  I’m in a pretty good mood, considering I engulfed and entire Ben and Jerry’s “Chubby Hubby” at midnight last night.   But, ahhhh…..I can smell the coffee waiting downstairs for me.  I  have a religious ritual every night before I go to bed - the coffee has to be made, ready to turn on at 6:30 a.m. and be waiting for me, it’s loving handle placed at the perfect 45 degree…

Well, here we are - the last day of Alcohol Awareness Month - and I must first express my gratitude to Alix M. who has diligently (and I mean work your butt off diligent) contacted writers and made sure that every single day during this very important month, a new story was posted about someone’s journey on the ferris wheel  of addiction and recovery.

I have been honored to write the last entry:

What Recovery Means To Me:

Being able to look people in the eye

Knowing that I can be trusted driving other peoples’ children in my car

Asking for help when I need…