Serenity Is Forever

Principles Before Personalities

August 3, 2013 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, aa principles, alcoholism, na, NA principle, principles before personality, recovery0 comment

One of the tougher issues I have to deal with as an artist, person in recovery and micro-businesswoman is dealing with personalities. The vast majority of the feedback I get for my work is positive and supportive. It makes me feel good to be of service, and people love what they have purchased for themselves or their loved ones. However, I get the rare comment that somebody really despises my work. Not straightforward criticism like that it’s just okay, or that they don’t really like this or that about a…

12step Al-Anon Inspiration NA Narcotics Anonymous relapse relapse prevention Serenity Prayer

Relapse Scares Me Still

September 12, 2012 stephaniep12 step, aa, addiction, addiction and creativity, Al-anon, ALANON, alcoholism, fear of relapse, na, recovery, serenity prayer, serenityprayer, sober birthdays, sobriety anniversary0 comment

Relapse from recovery is my number one fear. Falling off the wagon, going out, screwing up: same difference. As a person in recovery for over 10 years, the fear of relapse still scares me sober. And it seems like everyone in recovery I’ve come in contact with has exactly the same fear. Once an alcoholic or addict is “in recovery” and has been clean and sober for a while and continues to go to AA or NA or other 12 Step meetings, relapse is still a very real possibility. Although…

12step Al-Anon

Alcohol – the cheapest drug in America

May 19, 2012 stephaniep12 step, 12step, addiction, addiction and creativity, Al-anon, ALANON, alcoholism, isolation and addiction, just for today, na, recovery0 comment

I was shopping at Trader Joe’s today and came face to face with a display for house brand Vodka priced at $10.99 for 1.75 litres. Wow that makes for some cheap booze! You are looking at 40 drinks for about $0.27 per shot. Then I looked around some more, I noticed they have wine priced at $2.00 a bottle and that’s a big $0.40 a glass. That wine has been famously dubbed TJ’s Two Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw Vineyard). Beer was just as cheap too. Depending on one’s tolerance, a…

12step Al-Anon Inspiration

Supportive. Not an Enabler.

November 26, 2011 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, addiction, Al-anon, ALANON, alcoholism, isolation and addiction, recovery, sober birthdays, sobriety anniversary0 comment

I get many emails from mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, girlfriends and boyfriends of those who have just come into sobriety. It is to these people, my own loving husband included, that I want to dedicate this blog entry. Let’s talk about how difficult it is for you to do your part: You can help. You can encourage. The most important thing is to not enable the addiction. Show moral support, faith and love but never enable. Although this Thanksgiving marks a decade of my own sobriety, I can still remember…

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Suicide Survivor

May 16, 2011 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, addiction, alcoholism, na, recovery, Serenity, suicide survivor0 comment

I’m a survivor of many events in my life. I’ve survived addiction, I’ve survived parental alcoholism and I’ve survived a suicide. My brother, may he rest in peace, took his own life 13 years ago this week. I remember the day I got the phone call as clearly as it was yesterday. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I was sorting through the laundry when the phone rang. My cousin who rarely called me was on the other line. She told me he committed suicide and then everything changed…

12step

Dear Friend

December 30, 2010 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, addiction, alcoholism, christmas and alcoholism, holidays and addiction, just for today, na, one day at a time, recovery, Serenity, serenityprayer0 comment

I may be clean and sober for nine years now, but alcoholism and addiction is alive and well in my family. I’m sick of it and I want it to go away, but I have to deal with it AGAIN and AGAIN. I want to share a letter I wrote a friend one today: My friend, I know you are angry, confused and hurt right now. I know because I’ve been there. About 10 years ago, my life was a shambles, my marriage was falling apart, I hated everybody and…

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Hometown Blues

October 18, 2010 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, addiction, alcoholism, isolation and addiction, just for today, na, recovery, Serenity, serenity prayer, sober birthdays0 comment

I went back home to my hometown recently after quite some time to visit my aging mom. Going back home is always an emotional journey for me and although I look forward to visiting, I still can’t help but be filled with some dread about revisiting the place where I grew up and remembering what it was like growing up with alcoholism. It was only a decade ago that I used to visit my parents with plenty of drugs in tow that I managed so foolishly to hide in my…

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Thanks for giving me sobriety

November 25, 2009 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, addiction, alcoholism, christmas and alcoholism, na, recovery, Serenity, serenity prayer, sober birthdays0 comment

Thanksgiving is a special time but for me, it marks another year of sobriety. I now have eight years of continued sobriety. During those years, I have experienced the same disappointments and achievements in life as I always have but the difference is that I was able to handle life on life’s terms– just using my instincts, some common sense and I hope, good judgment. It’s been a tough yet wonderfully liberating experience. One thing that I found a bit of challenge is dealing with friends and family regarding sobriety. …

12step

Public Enemy

June 10, 2009 stephaniep12 step, 12step, act as if, addiction, alcoholism, benzo addiction, benzodiazepines addiction, benzodiazepines withdrawl, insomnia and addiction, just for today, na, recovery, xanaz withdrawl0 comment

We are a prescription drug society. Not a day will pass when we will see an advertisement describing some medical condition and the pill that will help it. An astonishing amount of advertising about insomnia has surfaced within the last few years. It is estimated that one of out of six people over the age of 15 has problems falling or staying asleep. My co-worker has been taking as he describes a “tiny dose” of Clonazepam because he experiences “middle-of-the-night” insomnia. He wakes up every morning at 2 am and…

12step

Solitary confinement

April 9, 2009 stephaniep12 step, 12step, aa, ACOA, addiction, alcoholism, boredom, christmas and alcoholism, isolation and addiction, na, one day at a time, Serenity, serenityprayer0 comment

When I was using, sometimes I felt like I was living in solitary confinement. My addiction was my incarceration–a lonely, frightening and lifeless jail of my own doing. Now that I’m clean and sober there is a whole dimension of solitude I’ve learned to embrace rather than fear. During my first year of sobriety, dealing with solitude was difficult. Like many others entering recovering, I had to let go of friends who used and using patterns I had developed that were social. Although I had developed other social networks with…

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Tag: alcoholism

Principles Before Personalities

Relapse Scares Me Still

Alcohol – the cheapest drug in America

Supportive. Not an Enabler.

Suicide Survivor

Dear Friend

Hometown Blues

Thanks for giving me sobriety

Public Enemy

Solitary confinement