Content Warning: This is a series that follows my journey using art while going into recovery from alcoholism. So there will be mentions of alcohol-related thoughts and behaviors.

Ah, 27 days of sobriety and abstinence, it’s such a glorious thing, and a fabulous way to live. Alas, I have been floating around on a pink cloud and my inner child is loving it. The adult in me, not so much because I feel so ungrounded in the present moment. It is possible to keep my feet on the ground while still experiencing the joys of a binge-free drink-free life.

I could be like seeds being blown about in the wind, never really knowing where I will land. Or, I could grow some roots from a spirit-first, God-centered love in reality. It means following principles, not my ego. It means practicing self-care, not self-abuse. It is about being of service to God and others instead of being about selfish, dishonest, and self-seeking motives. Life is so much better when taking this approach.

Now that I am at step 12 that has no expiration date of completion as it is life, not college. There is no graduation from the program. In order to maintain abstinence and sobriety, I give back to other compulsive eaters and alcoholics (and their families in some cases). I now have 2 sponsees; one with a condition that his wife has to know about me either by meeting me or at the minimum speak to me on the phone. It is a matter of integrity, a demonstration of action by the active alcoholic that he be willing to go to any length to get and maintain sobriety. It also keeps me safe in my program by doing the honorable thing of being considerate of others. The plus side of that is that as I also have family members that are also active addicts/alcoholics, I can work that particular program by helping friends and family members of active addicts/alcoholics have a more loving life as God intended for all His children. Makes me grateful that I have come full circle on both the experience and understanding with the way this mental illness that so many suffer from as a result of substance abuse.

Hence the need to be grounded in the now and setting down roots based on love as God intended for all His creation. Love and tolerance are the new way of life for me. I hope to continue on with my sobriety by helping others, even while I continue to heal from the wounds inflicted on me by other ill folks that is active in their addictions.