Life is marked by a variety of losses, says certified trauma specialist H. Norman Wright. Some are life-changing, such as leaving home, the effects of natural disasters or war, the death of a loved one, or divorce. Others are subtle, such as changing jobs, moving, or a broken friendship. But whether readers encounter family, personal, or community disaster, there is always potential for change, growth, new insight, understanding, and refinement. Writing from his own experience, Wright covers such issues as the meaning of grief, blaming God, and learning how to express and share in times of loss. Now repackaged and updated with additional material, Recovering from Losses in Life will help readers find hope in difficult times. Study questions included.
Featuring a foreword by Will Self We’ll all experience recovery at some point in our lives, whether from addiction, physical illness, mental health issues or loss. Many of us heal, and we may discover ways to live with our changed selves, to reclaim a life. We may find a new voice, or unearth a voice that has been submerged. Vitally, recovery can mean community. This anthology – which grew out of a small creative writing class run by Lily Dunn at Hackney Recovery Service, and was later broadened into a nationwide call for submissions by Dunn and her teaching partner, Zoe Gilbert – represents a community of writers: new, unheard voices alongside emerging and established authors. Theirs are stories from the dark back alleys, the deep crevices of the mind, and from the wild, ecstatic heights of life before, during and after recovery. These are voices that urgently need to be heard, in all their variety.
The World Heritage-listed Port Arthur penitentiary is one of Australia's most visited historical sites, attracting over 400,000 visitors each year. Designed to incarcerate 480 men, between 1856 and 1877 thousands of convicts passed through it. In 2016, archaeologists began one of the largest ever excavations of an Australian convict site. Recovering Convict Lives: Historical Archaeology of the Port Arthur Penitentiary makes their findings available to general readers for the first time. Extensively illustrated, it is a fascinating journey into the inner workings of the penal system and the day-to-day lives of Port Arthur convicts. Through the things they left behind - the sandstone base of a prison wall, a clay pipe discarded in a washroom, gambling tokens dropped between floorboards - this book tells their stories. Praise for Recovering Convict Lives 'In this richly illustrated volume readers will be taken on an archaeological tour of a lost world of work, leisure and punishment. A forensic reconstruction of one of Australia's most iconic buildings, Recovering Convict Lives peels away the layers of time to reveal the hidden history of everyday life in a penal station.' - Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, author of Closing Hell's Gates
Strawberry writes for the first time about his tumultuous life and controversial career with the Yankees, telling how he and his family have overcome health issues and battled substance abuse through perseverance and faith.
The coronavirus pandemic has heightened awareness of how we're feeling, and what helps keep us healthy. Attending to physical, mental, and spiritual health is essential in times of crisis--especially for bodies in recovery. Just as recovery requires daily practice, so does physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle. In The Recovering Body, seasoned health writer, Jennifer Matesa ignites the recovery community with the first-ever guide to achieving physical recovery as part of your path to lifelong sobriety. In our former lives as practicing alcoholics and addicts, we likely punished our bodies as much as our minds. And yet, recovery programs often neglect the physical, focusing primarily on the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of staying sober.In The Recovering Body, popular health writer and Guinevere Gets Sober blogger Jennifer Matesa provides simple, effective ways for addicts to heal the damage caused by substance abuse, whatever our age, lifestyle, or temperament. Combining solid science and practical guidance, along with her own experience and that of other addicts, Matesa offers a roadmap to creating our own unique approach to physical recovery. Each chapter provides key summaries and helpful checklists, focused on: exercise and activitysleep and restnutrition and fuelsexuality and pleasuremeditation and awarenessMatesa’s holistic approach frames physical fitness as a living amends to self--a transformative gift analogous to the “spiritual fitness” practices worked on in recovery.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998. "To all concerned, this book is meant to send a ghostly signal across the dark universe of ill-health that says 'you are not alone.'" - Robert McCrum On July 29, 1995, Robert McCrum, 42, married only ten weeks, suffered a paralyzing stroke. Overnight, his life shifted irrevocably. But this admired novelist and former editorial director of the London publishing house Faber and Faber decided to chronicle what became a remarkable journey "into that mysterious, unexplored territory, the neighbourly world of the unwell," as well as a deeply moving love story.
A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis conjures up images of wheelchairs and a shortened life, but in fact it's possible to regain mobility and make a recovery. These deeply moving life stories of twelve people from around the world offer real hope to people with MS everywhere. These determined women and men have been able to halt the progression of the disease and recover mobility by making significant lifestyle changes including diet, sunshine, meditation, exercise, and for some, using drug therapy. Based on extended interviews, these stories offer an insight into the different journeys to recovery. They also highlight the challenges faced by people with different types of MS and at different stages in the progression of the disease.
These words, familiar to recovering people everywhere, describe the challenging realities we must face when we begin recovering from an addiction. And as life goes on there is a tremendous need for meaningful recovery support. Learning to deal with the different stages of growth and the new emotions that surface during the recovery process requires new living skills. Now all the pamphlets in the bestselling Hazelden Pocket Power series have been collected in this inspirational volume. Living Recovery provides an in-depth look at twenty-two tools for recovery, and offers pragmatic guidance in penetrating, yet easy-to-read reflections on: -- Accepting Criticism -- Forgiveness -- Freedom from Fear -- Gratitude -- Great Expectations -- Honesty -- Hope -- Humility -- Inadequacy -- Just for Today -- Letting Go -- Living the Principles -- Loneliness -- Loving Relationships -- Miracles in Recovery -- Patience -- Prayer and Meditation -- Reaching Out to Others -- Serenity -- Surrender -- Understanding Rejection -- When Doors Close So whether you're recovering from addiction or you live or work with someone who is, the principles of Twelve Step living outlined in this book can guarantee a richer, healthier life. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the Random House edition of Hockney's Alphabet will go to the American Friends of AIDS Crisis Trust for AIDS research and services to people with AIDS. Sir Stephen Spender invited a number of distinguished writers in Britain and America to contribute original texts for an alphabet to be specially drawn by David Hockney, the proceeds of which would benefit AIDS research and services to people with AIDS. The result is this stunning volume of ABCs for grown-ups, a unique anthology of art and literature. Here are the letters of the alphabet, in David Hockney's inimitable style -- created in a variety of media, including collage and laser copier -- with brief accompanying texts by a dazzling array of world-class writers. Each was assigned to his or her letter by Stephen Spender, who himself contributed the Preface and a poem for the letter A. Those who love words will delight in the texts, which include, among others: -- Joyce Carol Oates on B, for birth, the "most profound" of all the Bs. -- Iris Murdoch on C, a "warm, comforting, friendly" letter. -- Paul Theroux on D, for death: "An endless night so awful to contemplate that it can make us love life and value it with such passion that it may be the ultimate cause of all joy and all art." -- Gore Vidal on E: "So very like a comb." -- Norman Mailer on F: "What a compliment you are paying me with that letter." -- Martin Amis on H, for homosexual: "It asks for courage. It demands courage." -- Erica Jong on I, a poem, "To the Letter I." -- Margaret Drabble on L, for laughter: "Do we not, in looking back on friendships, holidays, parties, good times, remember the laughter even when the jokes are forgotten?" -- Doris Lessing on P, for pumpkin: "One of the joys of autumn." -- Kazuo Ishiguro on T, for T-bone steak: "A dish renowned for its directness and simplicity." -- Julian Barnes on U, for unless: "The most sinister word in the English language." -- John Updike on V, for venereal, but also for victory. -- Susan Sontag on W, for weather. -- Anthony Burgess on X, a poem, "An Elegy for X." Along the way, there is a previously unpublished letter, donated to the project by Mrs. Valerie Eliot, from T. S. Eliot to a young, aspiring writer, and a short essay by Arthur Miller comparing contemporary prejudice against AIDS to the prejudice against tuberculosis he remembers from his childhood. "The world's Alphabets -- Alpha to Omega," says Stephen Spender in the Preface, "are drums and trumpets, clarion calls, State Funerals, Massed Choirs, Burial and Redemption." Hockney's Alphabet is all that, as well as an enchanting and thought-provoking gift book that will help end the AIDS crisis here and all over the world.
Unlike other books on divorce, Living Unbroken takes a deep dive into understanding and overcoming the emotional toll divorce, separation, and the loss of a serious long-term relationship has on a woman’s well-being. As someone who has walked this path, Tracie Miles leads women on a powerful, life-changing journey that provides much-needed hope, encouragement, and practical guidance for living their best life even if it’s not the life they once imagined. Her biblically sound approach teaches readers how to trust in God’s promises and restore their self-confidence and hope for the future.
