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Waking Up a ‘7’ / An Agnostic’s View on Serenity & Sobriety
It’s easier to love the mystery than be smitten by a prophecy. I used to wake up fearful, painfully wondering how I might endure the day, inevitably turning to drugs and alcohol to relieve my stress,...
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Stray Cat Blues
Lying in bed you wait for the Seroquel and Gabapentin to kick in, drugs that were prescribed 15 years ago by the head of addiction therapy at Rush Hospital in Chicago. He’d said they were non-habit...
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The Burning Question
The non-addict asks what is the meaning of life? The addict asks: Is this all there is? You called this many things: frustration, dissatisfaction, expectation… the yearning. Desiring something else....
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Sometimes Grace
Leaves in the pool… You always try and view the Program through the eyes of a newcomer. Though many members feel otherwise, for you listening to the old timers has limited value. The rawness of...
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Welcome to Armageddon
“I’m going to tell you a true story, okay?” Callie is looking at her phone but you know she is listening. You are driving her to rehearsal. She has a big part in Les Miserables. She plays the grown-up...
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Mustard Seed Epiphany
Start small… . “I had an epiphany.” Far from spontaneous, you are looking forward to discussing it with her. “Do tell,” she replies. “I’m all about the epiphanies.” Mia peers at you from behind a...
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Read Me, Seymour!
Author Unknown You’ve written three novels. After years of toil, most of it pleasurable (an apt definition of writing), enduring countless maybes, the quite interested and even an option from...
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Two careers beat as one: Trying to get people on and now off controlled...
Outdueling alcohol and tobacco with advertising is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. For over 25 years, I worked in the creative department at a number of big name advertising agencies. I was...
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Pen 15: Analysis of random episode for Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs (ATOD).
Most of the television shows and movies I watch contain a preponderance of alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Many of them are integral to the plot itself. Platforms like Netflix and Hulu (among many, many...
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When Harry Met Humility
Toward the end of his life, in 1965, Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous put forward that his program came down to two main precepts: humility and responsibility. Admitting one was...
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The Acorn
On the last day of your senior year in high school you broke a rule by wearing shorts. The Principal called you out for the infraction, stopping you in the hallway. The details of your exchange are...
View ArticleLetter to my Professor at Berkeley. Just because…
My philosophy as it relates to diagnosis and treatment has evolved since I first became clean and sober in 2003. While I began (and continue) my path to recovery as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I...
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Solitude & Devotion.
It could be worse… Soft and feminine, you adore it. It has become your companion. Palpable. Serene. Lovely. You have a long-term relationship with solitude, which almost never gets old. So many people...
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Addicts All
Everyone, you think, is some kind of addict. Be they active, recovering, or on the brink. Passions which are good become obsessions which are bad. People are self-seeking. This is the human condition,...
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Bodily Functions
Caution: The following is gross… Your body loves to tell you how old it is. It complains. Varying intermittent pains in your back, knees and shoulders. Twinges you feel upon rising. Parts grow bigger...
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Why Are You Here?
He was “a piece of shit junkie.” His words. Clean almost a year Jake begins a harrowing lead. His entire family are addicts (active or dead) and, not surprisingly, he had started using early in life,...
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Burning Question
The non-addict asks what is the meaning of life? The addict asks: Is this all there is? You called this many things: frustration, dissatisfaction, expectation… the yearning. Desiring something else....
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Unthink.
“It was a beautiful day when I awoke but then I started thinking.” A great line uttered by a strange man. Dave is ex-military, ex-cop and now drives a canary yellow VW Bug. He still pines for his...
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The whine of sour grapes or telling my truth and not giving a damn!
Been a long time since I wrote about advertising. Why then is my blog called Gods of Advertising if I’m not writing about it? Well, for starters, what is there to write about? From a creative...
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Privileged to Serve
In addition to my writing, for the last 6 months I’ve been serving as Primary Counselor in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders at Serenity Knolls. The pandemic has only heightened the need. I’m...
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