Category: Authenticity
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I grew up being taught that meaning, comfort, and salvation came from believing the right things about a (to me) distant God. Defined in ancient books, filtered through doctrine, and guarded by rules. I tried, for many years, to hold those beliefs. But they never “took” in me. Instead, they made me feel boxed in, anxious, and…
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It’s far too easy to become distracted by everything that’s wrong in the world. So easy, in fact, that it can blot out everything that’s still good. With so many news companies competing for our attention, we’re inundated with headlines from the moment we wake up, unless we take steps to protect ourselves. For me,…
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My grandmother had little in the way of formal education by today’s standards. She didn’t get a 4-year college degree. She never owned a car. My grandparents had an outhouse until my father and his brothers finally built them an indoor bathroom. She didn’t get a telephone until I was already a teenager. And yet…
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The storm rolls in, dark, knocking me back again. Wind thrashes at my defenses, testing every fragile fortress. Still, I feel hope, as long as she is with me. ~Buck
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I think almost everyone carries their own “demons,” as people like to call them. Trauma. Old wounds. Memories that refuse to sleep. For some, those demons are quiet enough to coexist with. For others, they interfere with the very ability to function, to rest, to think clearly, to feel safe in the world. For better…
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I absolutely trust mine. They’ve saved my life more than once. There have been times when I had no logical reason to feel the way I did, yet something in me knew. One of the earliest and clearest examples was when I suspected I had diabetes. I wasn’t overweight. I had no family history. None…
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The first impression I would like to give people is that I’m safe to be around. For most other people that probably isn’t much of a problem. But when I was on the drugs, and alcohol before that, over the years I got tattoos on my face and neck. Those tattoos make people, understandably, assume…
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Moments of peace come through, soft and gentle as moonlight. Allowing me to return home to myself. After such a long and arduous journey of drug withdrawal, these moments are like being embraced by gentleness itself. Life in these moments is so very precious, moments stretched into eternity. Knowing, finally, that I am beloved, as are all other…
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I was going to wait until the actual ten month anniversary (in three days) of being free from benzos, but I want to say this now. I need to say it now. I have the best family and extended family anyone could hope for. They’ve seen me through withdrawals, through fear and pain, and they…
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I fought through darkness of terror and pain,and I survived because of love. I rode through the storms like Thunor,and screamed as I gained hard-won wisdom like Woden,as I fought through the blackest halls where shadows whispered lies. It was the love of my wife and sons that saw me through,when I was in darkness…
Whispering Wyrd 