I find that the daily struggle to be functional and healthy has perhaps skewed my view of “normal”. I know everyone’s normal takes different forms but it’s discouraging for me when the abnormal becomes normal. It’s “abnormal” to be so detached that your voice sounds like a stranger’s, that the faces of loved ones don’t […]
I’m often self-conscious about how I reveal my struggles (may I say illness?) to other people – even those most close to me. It is so easy for me to be hurt by good intentions, by people trying to help. Usually they end up inadvertently invalidating the severity of my experiences. If they haven’t walked […]
It is a fairly common saying that hard times are valleys and good times are mountains. What’s up with that? I find valleys to be rather pleasant: the ground is even, the weather more mild, no obstacles. Mountains are incredibly hard to surmount and once you are at the top you have to go back […]
The trouble with mental illness is that when I try to be optimistic and tell myself on a bad day that tomorrow will be better I’m often disappointed. I don’t know why I expect the next day to be better, I suppose it is something that keeps me going: the hope that it will. In […]
I don’t remember much about July 12th. Perhaps it should be my “sobriety birthday” since it was the first day: day one of no more drinking. Ever. But many who have been on the alcoholic’s journey know that there are many first days of “no more drinking, ever”. “Today is the day,” then a few […]
Healing The Ache 