James's Page

It's not that I don't like taking vacations—I do, sort of, it's just that for so many years I equated "vacation" with "a chance to drink with a kind of immunity", thus vacations in sobriety just don't have the same appeal. I was listening to a family member describing their latest "vacays" to New Zealand and Cancun and although the descriptions included details about the usual tourist activities like bungee jumping and scuba diving, they were also peppered with generous references to wine tasti… Continue

I've been doing a lot of thinking about spirituality and religion lately, especially as it relates to my recovery, since I've experienced both 12-Step and secular forms. I recently ran across this article in the SF Chronicle and thought I'd share some observations, for what it's worth... Here's the "nut" of the story.... "Adults who claim no ties to any religious institution have grown into the fourth-largest category of religious identification, a trend led by California and other states in… Continue

I make web sites for a living but I'm a bit of a Neanderthal when it comes to finding my way around the social networking landscape. I keep reading about a chat room somewhere but I don't see where to access it from this site. I assume it's at another URL. Can someone point me in that direction? I promise I'll never ask another stupid question...today.

You just gotta love that Seratonin. Just when I think I've got a handle on the whole drinking thing, my latent addiction to food, mainly sugar and empty carbs, rears it's ugly head... yet again. I've suspected all along it's part and parcel of the same disease, but lately, holy crap, just duct tape my mouth after dinner cuz I'm not to be trusted within five feet of a box of Jelly Belly Sours and it's becoming REALLY demoralizing. I've read all the latest thinking on "emotional eating", etc. and… Continue

This is my first post so allow me introduce myself by way of a little background...I attended my last LifeRing meeting in August, 2005. There was a woman in that meeting, a former regular who had been away for the 8-weeks required to finish an outpatient treatment program at a local hospital. She had come back that night to share about her success in treatment, her new found sobriety and lease on life. It was exactly what I needed to hear having just shared… Continue