Category Archives: Stop Drinking

It’s a Sign From Above to Quit Drinking (or Duck)!

It’s spring in Michigan and I work in one of those old buildings that have trouble shifting from winter steam heat to AC. And it’s been so gorgeous outside, that natural air is what I’m after. So, I tried to open my office window.  But, I work in one of those old buildings that have storm […]

Older Women – Is It Ever Too Late for Recovery?

I’ll say it – one of the most vilified demographics is the older woman. Especially if she dares to be sexual, current or aggressive in business. I recently read a blog by a 20 something who admonished women over the age of 40 for wearing hoop earrings. Seriously? We aren’t allowed to wear hoop earrings? […]

Feeling, Seeing, Smelling Vacation Without the Booze

I spent three hours yesterday lying in the Puerto Rican sun. On a lounge chair and in a bathing suit. I haven’t done that in years, but I felt the need for some Vitamin D and it was windy enough to be comfortable – not too hot. Happily, I am past the point where relaxing seaside […]

Thinking About Quitting Drinking? It’s a Pretty Big Climb…

I am currently obsessing about climbing a set of stairs. The stairs begin at a feeder road to the expressway in Grand Rapids and end, like Jack’s beanstalk, high and steep enough above the ground to disappear into the early morning mist. I am obsessing (and I don’t use that word lightly), because this staircase is a […]

No “Buts” About It – The 6 Things I Love About Sobriety

No one has ever accused me of being too giddy. So, it is unlikely you will hear me tell you I love being sober without adding the “but”. I don’t know why I feel the need to do this. Waking Up the Ghost is a sobriety blog, after all. Why can’t I just post photos of me grinning […]

What Could Have Been. Don’t Go There, My Sober Friends

In the movie La La Land, there is a “what could have been” scene.  And by the time you get there, you are so enthralled with the connection between the main characters, you can’t help but hope the real outcome is some cheesy, cinematic trick. A dream sequence, perhaps? Anything, so the beloved couple really does give […]

50 Shades of Michigan – Sober Winter SAD?

In the pubs in England, everyone talks about the weather. “Bit of rain today,” they’ll say, even when their brollies are turned inside out from the violence of the storm.  It seems we do the same in Michigan in winter.  We minimize our despondence, caused by the seemingly endless gray, as if we’re responsible. But, like England, when you get […]

It’s Not About Getting Sober So Much as STAYING Sober…

I’m on the road, visiting addiction treatment centers and talking to professionals from every job description in the addiction field. What strikes me more than anything else is the diversity, the options one has to get and stay sober. Everything from white knuckled, twice a day AA, self policing; to 90 days or more in the […]

When All Else Fails, Ask Yourself, “Is the Plane Still Flying?”

I got an email yesterday from Johnny, with some good advice. He didn’t say it, but I think he was responding to my most recent blog posts. They have not been happy-chappy, exclamatory or even particularly positive. I have not been a champion of recovery lately. I have had a case of the January blues. […]

The Cat Died “Thing” is Kind of Like How I Got Sober…

I woke up thinking about an assignment I got at the Writers in Paradise Conference three years ago. The assignment was to write a paragraph that began and ended with the words, “the cat died.” We had ten minutes to finish. It was the first time I realized my creativity has limits. In other words, I am […]