Let Them Be Your Lookout — If you’re an addict in recovery, you may have already noticed this. Those who are closest to you are the last to believe you’re changing. Your wife, your husband, mother, father, children, close friends, don’t get as excited as you do when you celebrate one week clean, one month clean…

At least three things, as a matter of fact — Some of my thoughts are almost as old as I am, but they still don’t know enough to knock before they come into my mind. I’d like them to make an appointment, see a receptionist, and fill out a six-page registration form before we meet. For some, it’s been years…

You may think that it’s hard to recover from addiction. Of course it is. But nearly everyone I talk to who has experienced both addiction and recovery say the same thing: addiction is harder. You’re accustomed to all the work it takes to keep up an addiction, so you might…

Where does the fuzziness come in? — For as long as people have been having feelings, they’ve tried to understand them by sorting them out and classifying them. It works for trees. Any field guide to trees will tell you that the blue spruce in front of you is a conifer and, as such, has a lot…

The elderly accordion player nodded sagely as he played. He knew all about how une fille can appear out of nowhere to warm his bones. He understood that life consisted of surprises, And surprises like to be cuddled. …

A review of “How Not to Kill Yourself” by Clancy Martin — Warning: This content may be triggering for some. If you’re troubled by thoughts of suicide, talk to someone about it. Call 988, talk to a supportive person, or to your own therapist. If you’re in New York State, make an appointment to talk to me. A professor begins his classes…

Get some paper and a pen. Put it by the substance you are thinking of quitting. Even if you are not ready to quit yet, do this one, little thing. Before you use the substance, mark on your paper the time and the date. Write a line or two about…

With all the bad stuff out there, from Fentanyl to Xylazine, you’d be crazy to use serious street drugs alone. It used to be that you’d have to pressure someone to use with you or pay with your body for someone to be there. But you don’t have to anymore…

At least the one inside your head — You remember Linus, the comic strip character who drags his blanket around? His blanket is helping him transition from being a baby to someone who can take care of himself. Linus has learned he can’t count on someone always being there when he cries. So, he’s begun to cope. He’s…