Extreme Shopper Highs Like Heroin Say Some, Others say Like Orgasm


The addiction to stuff is ruining our lives and our society.  It really is a culture of greed not to mention false gods such as expensive toys for adults, status symbols, and the rest of the junk.  The shopping addiction is a result of things like anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem.  

Some addictive adult shoppers keep buying more things than they know what to do with to spite their parents.  Shopping, say shopaholics, relieves the emotional discomfort of everyday life.  It also relieves the tensions of craving.  "I want..." is an all-consuming (pun intended) battle cry.  Shopaholics compare the high they get from buying things to shooting up heroin or freebasing coke.  Others say it's more like the high of an intense orgasm.

Children and teens become craving consumersas well because unscrupulous companies market to them. Check out the brain washing your kids are getting during Saturday morning cartoons.   Sometimes they are coaxed by media to suggest to their parents that they not just buy the kid a toy but a certain expensive car or other adult toy the kid can brag about.  And some parents actually are persuaded by these begging. whining little snobs.

If you watch Oprah, you've seen the unbelievable amount of crap that addicted consumers bring home.  Some are called hoarders.  They can't live comfortably in their homes which serve as warehouses for their wall-to-wall crap. They have so many possessions they don't remember what they have, and so when they want an item they don't remember buying, they just go out and buy another one, which results in multiple purchases of the same item.  Then Peter Walsh, the hotshot professional organizer comes over with a teamof workers to get everything out of the house and out on the front lawn so they can see what can be sold, donated, or tossed.  And after that they show the residents of the home crying and thanking Walsh and crew because they have a chance now to live like a normal person.

But everything you've heard about money and possessions not bringing happiness is true.  Addicted shoppers are always chasing the dragon.  Buying stuff brings diminishing returns when it becomes a way of life, and is no longer a thrill like it was initially.  So they keep buying more trying to satisfy that craving with a shopping fix, but it doesn't happen and they just get unhappy but stuck in a buying mode because they don't know how to stop.  Stress builds, anxieties grow, and the bank stops the credit lines.  Now the addicted materialist is really in a bind because their coping mechanism for stress is to go out and buy more.




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Anticonsumerism Information:

verdant Web site

list of anti-consumerists

Simple Living

How advertising turned advertising into a secret weapon

Adbusters (org)

anticonsumer-organizations.htm

Donate/Receive Goods

The Story of Stuff

Books:

What Would Jesus Buy? 

Cultural-Studies-Anti-Consumerism-

No_Logo

And Many More

Google "Simple Living" for ideas on how to live well without dependence on materialism.

When Will Your Dreams Come True?







Here is one of my favorite quotes on this topic:

Whatever you can do or dream you can begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

              --Goethe

Don't let anything stop you from beginning.  Don't let fear stop you, or low self-esteem, or procrastination or what others will think of you.   Studies have been done on the old and dying and their biggest regret is not taking advantage of an opportunity or failing without even beginning. 

Do you know what your soul's mission and life purpose is?  Follow your passions and you'll find it.  You will be guided to them by love.  What do you love?  Usually people find that their passion is doing something they are good at.  What are your talents, skills, interests...?

If you think you need more education to do what you want, now is definitely the time to go.   There are so many free and low cost courses to take and you can take them online.  Google your passion and see what educational resources are available.

Get a mentor.  If you know someone who is doing what you dream of doing, ask them questions.  If you've only heard of such people, write, phone or send an email.  Amazing things open up when we finally take action on making our dreams come true.

Pray if you believe in a higher power who loves you and wants to co-create with you. 

Listen to the voice within--your intuition. It might speak to you in your heart or a book or someone's words of wisdom or almost anything.  Pay attention and listen.

 Write down your dream in detail.  What is the overall vision you have for your life next year, in five years, in ten years...What service do you wish to do for others, because that is the way to true happiness.







Begin today. 

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Freelance writers:  Download The Ultimate Freelance Blogger guide to blogging sites that pay well.  Go here.


And how's by you?  Drop me a line by email or comment and let's have a conversation. 

Pope Doing More For Poor Than Selling His Harley


 I like this new pope.  I'm not saying I'm ready to become an unlapsed Catholic, but you got to give him credit.  He says some great things, and he has lots of good intentions that just might get fulfilled.  Today he is attacking the "Idolatry of Money."    Money and greed and the increasing gap between rich and poor is going to kill us all.

Pope Francis uses the commandment "Thy Shall Not Kill" as meaning  killing the poor through money and greed.  Money and greed and the increasing gap between rich and poor is going to kill us all he states.   
















November 26, 2013 | Pope Francis launched a long overdue campaign against inequality and out-of-control capitalism in a 84-page document released Tuesday. "In what is known as an “apostolic exhortation,” which means communication from the Pope of the Catholic Church, Francis called on politicians to guarantee “dignified work, education and healthcare” to their citizens and also criticized the “idolatry of money,” according to Reuters. Francis “beg[ged] the Lord” to deliver politicians who were more concerned with the poor and inequality. Francis blasted the current economic system as one that is profoundly unequality," according to this recent article. h
http://www.alternet.org/pope-francis-inequality-and-capitalism?akid=11189.316678.i1uD3g&rd=1&src=newsletter929418&t=3
This new pope has stated his intention for the Roman Catholic Church to strip itself of all “vanity” and humbly become “a poor church for the poor.” Meanwhile one German Catholic bishop, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the so-called “Bishop of Bling,” ’s a message that stands in stark contrast to the Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, whose personal requests for lavish fixtures such as a $20,000 bathtub for his private residence drove the cost of the bishopric estate’s renovation up to $43 million – more than five times the original estimate.
http://www.alternet.org/pope-francis-inequality-and-capitalism?akid=11189.316678.i1uD3g&rd=1&src=newsletter929418&t=3 http://www.alternet.org/pope-francis-inequality-and-capitalism?akid=11189.316678.i1uD3g&rd=1&src=newsletter929418&t=3 http://www.cai.org/bible-studies/vatican-billions http://www.economist.com/node/21560536 he molestation and rape of children by priests in America has resulted in more than $3.3 billion of settlements over the past 15 years, $1.3 billion of that in California. The total is likely to increase as more states follow California and Delaware in relaxing the statute of limitations on these crimes, most of which were reported long after they happened. For an organisation with revenues of $170 billion that might seem manageable. But settlements are made by individual dioceses and religious orders, whose pockets are less deep than those of the church as a whole.



http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/1103/Ouster-of-Bishop-of-Bling-puts-heat-on-wealthy-German-Catholic-Church



 http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/08/wealth-of-roman-catholic-church-impossible-to-calculate/

 http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/03/catholic_church_and_pope_francis_religious_institutions_are_exempted_from.html

 http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/03/catholic_church_and_pope_francis_religious_institutions_are_exempted_from.html

 the best one--go to first:


 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/pope-francis-evangelii-gaudium_n_4342964.html?ir=Religion&utm_campaign=112613&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-religion&utm_content=Title


auctions off harley forhttp://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/archive/segment/
 pope-francis-auctions-off-his-harley/526020b478c90a6d92000277


Pope Francis has donated his Harley Davidson motorcycle to be sold to raise money for a hostel and soup kitchen that serves Rome’s homeless.
Watch Full Segment (10/17/2013)
http://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-auction-his-harley-charity-202 

This Christmas Celebrate the Sacred: Buy Nothing

buy noyhing christmas toolkit



Think of the gift you could give to yourself this Christmas if you just bought nothing.  No mall madness.  No long waits in crowded shopping lines for checkout.  No more feeling like you just cannot get in the car again.  No Christmas Eve desperate shoppping at Walgreen's.

Yes, join the anti-consumer protest against excess and BUY NOTHING this CHRISTMAS.  Keep Jesus' birthday sacred, holy, meaningful and calm. You won't have to feel like throwing up in January when Christmas' credit card bills come.

Why Buy Nothing Christmas?

We all know we live in a culture of excess.  Shop, shop, until you drop, right?

Wrong.  The gap between the rich and the poor grows wider all the time.  Pope Francis compares this hurtful gap to killing and uses the Thou Shalt Not Kill commandment against it.

Buy Nothing Christmas was started by the Canadian Mennonite Group.  This religion has a long history of taking action to help those in need and working for peace and justice.  It is a way of acknowledging the crisis in the global economy.

Can you admit that spending money, money, money is a false way of living that keeps us from authentic lives?  Does your spouse really need or even want another sweater, bottle of cologne, or newest technologic gasket?

This Christmas Gifts From the Heart

Here are some alternative gift ideas from the info kit of the Buy Nothing Christmas organizers and from other activist orgs who are supporting this boycott. Check out these simple, free and low-cost alternative suggestions.  I particularly like, and plan to make, poems for loved ones, Linux (it is free or under $3.00--go here:  and personalized calandars. Naturally I wilso browse at my favorite thrift store for used books, Christmas aprons and table decorations, or maybe a wonderful ornament.  And here are more ideas:

 really like the notion of creating homemade collages for loved ones.  I made some for my children and it was a creation that came from a heart full of love.

Here's how to make this mindful gift:

Turn out the lights and listen to the silence as you think of someone you would like to give a collage to.  What qualities does this person have?  Why do love them?  What are their hobbies, interests, passions and issues they care about?  Meditate on this and wait for intuitive ideas.

Now go through the house and gather magazines.  If you don't have any, you can buy them at most thrift stores for about a dime each.  Then get a cup of coffee oor other favorite beverage, put on some Christmas music or music that reminds you of the person you are making this for and begin.  Go through each magazine and rip out any art, pictures, photos, or words that remind you of your gift receiver.
When you have a big pile of torn pieces, get a large posterboard or even a piece of cardboard, some white glue, maybe some paint, stickers, little decorations like stick-on stars or hearts, markers, and anything else that seems to fit.  Get a pair of scissors and begin to trim your pictures.  Crazy scissors from art supply stores are fun here.  When everything is neatly trimmed, spread some of it out on your posterboard and begin thinking of your design.  What do you want to put where?  Do you want to glue some of them to colored paper backgrounds.  Do you want to paint some or all of your work surface?

Go wild.  Ideas will begin to get you excited.  What do you want to say to the person you're giving it to about who you think they are, the things that turn them on, the special positive qualities they have. etc.  Maybe you want to go through some of your own photos and use a baby picture or a recent shot that really shows something about who they are.
 










There's more.  How about something from the Buy Nothing Catalog.  Go ahead and use that picture of a hug.

Or maybe they would like to get into the spirit of this new holiday tradition with a Buy Nothing Christmas poster.





Further reading about geting out of the consumer culture to sanity and reverence for life.

Postconsumers.com

Verdant

Degrowth

 Pinterest Anti-Consumerism

Become an activist against consumerism.  Go here to get started.




So What's Wrong With Your Life?

What's Wrong With Your Life  Click here

Dear Pope Francis, I Think I Love You and I'm Not Religious.

                            Pope and his biker buds before he got rid of his Harley.


Ever since Pope Francis sold his Harley to donate the money to a Rome homeless shelter, I have gotten the impression that he was not going to be a regular old fart pope.  Yeah, he still says women can't be priests, but what's it to me personally?  I lapsed from my Catholicism decades ago.  Still, it would have been outstanding if he had opened that forever closed door to women. And  I wonder if he'll invite back all the gay and lesbian church members and tell them all is forgiven.  Forgiven for what they'll be sure to ask.

But check this dude out is all I can say.  Any enemy of greed and capitalism is bound to become one of my new heroes.  He is the real thing with a working vow of poverty even if he is Mr. Big of the "One Holy Apostolic Church.".  Get this, he won't even live in his lovely palace at the Vatican. No, he lives in a nearby apartment.  He also gave up the expensive car and drives around in a funky Ford Focus and a 30-year-old Renault.

 He can attack the "idolatry of money" all he wants because he is putting his lira where his mouth is. Now he is saying that the nuns' convents and the priests' rectories might be put to better use as shelters for the homeless.  A man after my own heart.

I can almost put aside my bitter resentments towards a religion that would not allow birth control while some of the poorest countries in the world had families who had more kids than they could afford  to feed.

There's a new sherriff in town and he has having none of his men living lavish lives like big mob guys.  He suspended the "Bishop of Bling,"  the German bishop
who spent $42 million on expenditures such as a $20,000 bathtub, a $34,000 conference table, and a $4 million chapel.  It is not business as usual in the Vatican.

While the Catholic Church remains a bigtime money-maker,  there is no fear of Church members rising up and demanding financial transparency. The Catholics always have been mum about their incredible wealth, but because of the bankruptcy cases due to the sexual predator priests, we do know that  cost them over $3 billion and counting.

Guess it's a reminder of the "tyranny of money."  It does seem though that with the departure of Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, Cicero, IL native born not too far from Al Capone's old house,  no one is revealing anything like the $200 money laundry scandal that was exposed while he ruled the roost. Yeah, Marcinkus was another one who must have had his fingers crossed when he took his vow of poverty as a young priest.  The press said he behaved more like a "Wall Street adventurer" than a prominent, upper echelon member of Vatican officers.  I mean he could have passed as a made man with his custom-built cars, a Avana cigar stuck in his mouth, a crew of sexy  blond secretaries, and his poker-playing buddies.

But I give this fire brand his due and who cares if people are attacking him and calling him a Marxist, a Socialist, and things I wouldn't want to repeat.  Just read a little bit of his 84-page Apostolic Exhoration "Evangeii-Gaudium."  Listen to these beautiful idealistic, soaring sentiments:
 
"The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ."

You tell these heathen idolaters, Francis.  And again if you think he's over-reacting and that the gap between the boys with the toys ("whoever dies with the most toys wins" --popular bumpkersticker a few years back) and the poor, I invite you to readthe 200-some page "Ending Hunger in America" report released Tuesday.

Enjoy that Turkey boys and girls.

But Are You Grateful to be Grateful?



Are you grateful for what you have, who you are, people you love who love you, sobriety and being clean, and more?  Stop reading right now and write the top 20 things you are grateful for.  Here's my list to get you started:

I am grateful for:  (not in order of importance)

1.  My beautiful, healthy, loving children.
2.  The rest of my extended family.
3.  God's help with my grief for recent death of mother.
4.  My loving friends.
5.  All the great books that my higher power brings to my attention through synchronicity that are exactly what I need at the time.
6.  Sobriety/being drug free.
7.  My cat who gives me love and whom I can love back.
8.  A roof over my head even if the heat and hot water are iffy and the place is a mess.
9.   Humanity's continuing evolution.
10. The power of prayer and meditation.
11.  My good health at age 64 despite many years of abusing my body.
12.  Healthy, organic food I can afford (and food stamps).
13.  Enough money for my simple needs and wants from Social Security Disability.
14.  The fact that with H.P.'s help I had one year smoke free on 11/16/2013.  (You can do it too!  I never, ever believed I could do it.  What helped also was a powerful book called "The Little Book of Quitting," by Allen Carr.  Order it for one cent from here)
15.  That I can get everywhere I need/want to go by walking and bike and don't need a car.
16.  My meetings and the sober/clean people who attend them.
17.  My intuition and sometimes knowledge of God's will for me.
18.  Diet Coke and coffee--my fuel.
19.  My adult son living with me.  He keeps me from getting too set in my ways and I isolate less.
20.  Thanksgiving dinner that I  only have to make cranberries for and not cook meal.  Thank God for siblings!

Happy Grateful Day to You.  Don't forget at Thanksgiving dinner to go around and have people say three things they are grateful for.



-----------------------------

If you can't think of 20 things to be grateful for, download this--The 2014 Hunger Report

Surrender, Dorothy or How Long Do You Have to Go to Meetings?

Answer: Until You WantTo Go. It's official. I have the personality and thinking patterns of an alcoholic. I haven't wet my whistle in some time, but I found out today that I fit right in with the other misfit sober drunks in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). Doctors and psychologists have described alcoholics as suffering with a superiority complex coupled with an inferiority complexes.. The result is a desperate grandiosity to prove self-worth. We want to show the world we're better than they thought we were, and they didn't think much of us. We want to do big, important things that will give us more than our fair share of fame, wealth, prestige, security and romance. Some of us once wanted to be King of the World. After being sober a while many will settle for prince or princess of the world unless the honesty required to stay sober has taught them some humility. Take me, for example. I am now willing to give up the notion of writing the greatest American novel ever, and becoming a literary giant. I will "settle" for having a stable of bestsellers and being interviewed on TV by David Letterman and Charlie Rose. Naturally, I hope that the right publications will give my books glowing reviews, and fill my fat head with far-fetched tribute phrases to keep me warm on cold nights. But enough about me for now. This is a true story of the Pandora's box of wet dreams, greedy, self-important, delusional thinking that some early A.A. members opened after Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) became internationally famous and respected for its ability to get even lost causes sober. A.A. helped restore these early members to a functional place in society, business and family life that they had long given up hope of ever seeing again. They were amazed at this miracle, and some figured there had to be a way to cash in on this great success, especially after Jack Alexander's March 1, 1941 article "Alcoholics Anonymous" (http://www.aa.org/catalog.cfm?origpage=180&product=35) in the Saturday Evening Post. This very positive article about just how successful the A.A. program was in getting drunks sober became hugely popular. Their was a national and international surge of interest in the A.A. program. In 1941 A.A. was six years old and there were approximately 2,000 men and women who belonged to it, as compared to the 2,000,000 recovering people in A.A. worldwide today. The article stressed how A.A. seemed to work because one drunk, now sober, helped another. Service was and is the foundation of the fellowship. (Meanwhile, some 70 years later there is new research proving have what makes A.A. work: helping others.) John D. Rockefeller took an interest in A.A. when it was new and struggling. He did contribute to the group's early support. But Rockefeller stressed to group members the importance of A.A.'s paying their own way, and not looking to be supported in their endeavors by outside contributions A.A. took this advice to heart and created Tradition Seven: "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions." This tradition, as well as is one of the 12 traditions or principles of A.A. are still followed today. The A.A. members learned the hard way that they needed Tradition Six: "An A.A. group ought never to endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose." Getting back to the Pandora's box that was opened and the results which eventually led to the inclusion of this tradition, all hell broke loose after the Alexander article hit the streets. At this time there were some 2,000 members, mostly all former falling down drunks and some skid row bums who had achieved sobriety through the program. They were back behind their executive desks, driving their trucks and taxis, waiting on customers and generally succeeding at earning an income. Their families loved them again, and most forgave them, especially as the disease concept of alcoholism became well known. Alexander did point out the theory of some that alcoholism could be compared to having an allergy. An alcoholic had a similar negative reaction to their allergen, alcohol. Or, as the old joke heard around the church basements of A.A. meetings goes, "Yeah, I had an allergy to alcohol. If I drank I would break out. I broke out in bars, clubs, restaurants, at home and even at work." A great many of these sobered up drunks took A.A.'s new popularity and earned respect to heart. They felt that A.A. could do more for the world than just get a few drunks sober here and there. These recovering people got together and decided that now that A.A. was officially a success it could do more. Why not unleash the full potential of A.A.? They reasoned that they should go into business, and/or finance any enterprise in the field of alcoholism, They felt they had a responsibility to pay it forward cause whose time had come. Some of the plans they came up with for how to get more deserving folks into the A.A. program were: 1. They would build their own hospital chain. (Don't we have some of those A.A.-based chains today? A.A. itself might not finance or control these hospitals, but a person who went in for rehab would soon learn treatment was the A.A. way or go out and drink again. They are offered no alternatives or choices.) 2. They would educate the public about alcoholism, and rewrite school and medical textbooks. 3. They would gather up the derelicts from Skid Rows, sort them out into groups of those who were losers and didn't have a chance and those they thought could get well. They would make it possible for these chosen few to make their livelihood in a rarefied, if somewhat quarantined, confinement away from all temptation. These new businesses would make large sums of money, and finance other good works for alcoholics. 4. They quite seriously pontificated about changing the laws of the land in line with the view that alcoholics are not bad people, they are sick. This would stop drunks from getting thrown in jails. Judges would parole them into the custody of A.A. members and groups. (This actually is the case, as anyone who has ever received a D.U.I. and been mandated to attend A.A. meetings can tell you.) 5. They further saw themselves branching out into dope addiction and criminality despite the stated and well-known to them "primary principle" of A.A. which was written in the A.A. preamble as, "Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety." Pretty clear to many, but not all, of the recovering people.. 6. They reasoned that A.A. could cure anything. Hadn't it turned their own lives around? They would start A.A. groups for the depressives and paranoid mentally ill. . A.A. could handle misfits, crazies, those estranged from society and other misfits the sicker the better to prove the point. They reasoned, by God, if alcoholism could be licked, so could any problem if it used the A.A. program. 7. Some of them envisioned an utopia where laborers and capitalists would love one another. 8. The absolute honesty they must practice to remain sober, might even be applied to those in politics and a clean-up there. 9. They enjoyed their newfound happiness and just knew they could teach others how to get and stay happy. 10. They would endorse products and even take the opportunity to do P.R. for liquor companies that were requesting such representation to show the irresponsible drinker the virtues of moderate drinking. Although most did not touch a drop of alcohol, and none would ever achieve moderate drinking status based on the well-known fact that you can't turn a pickle into a cucumber again, somehow the liquor companies thought they were the people to speak to the irresponsible imbibers. Being endorsed by A.A. and recommended by sober group members would build their company's reputation and esteem in the public's eyes they believed. Dreams die hard, of course, and it took some very bad experiences to get these early A.A. members, some still a bit mentally and emotionally under the influence, to realize the error of their ways and end the grandiose plans. They knew that the proposed A.A. liquor company reps could well end up drunk, resulting in an undesirable alteration in public opinion. They ended up taking the name of A.A. off halfway houses and clubs where there had been a few too many relapses to continue without tarnishing A.A.'s good reputation. Some members went to Bill Wilson, the co-founder of A.A., and asked about becoming alcoholism counselors in hospitals where they could receive a salary for their experience, strength and hope. In fact, Bill himself had been invited by one hospital to work in this capacity. He had seriously considered it and was excited at the prospect until he realized he could not cash in on his A.A. experience without doing harm to the program. (Many hospital A.A. counselors today don't seem bothered by their consciences though.) The honesty and humility that these early members of A.A. learned from the 12 steps, brought them to the realization that they were, as the kids say today, tripping with their crazy ideas and plans for A.A. Recovering people didn't flock to become hospital founders or even sobriety counselors, and A.A. remained untarnished by greed and hubris. A.A. members know they are all one drink or drug away from a total relapse. Their sobriety, they learn in twelve step programs, is contingent on their spiritual condition. The members of A.A. in 1941 finally accepted that they were tripping and that their ideas were based on character defects they needed to have removed. One man who was invited by a distillery to represent the company went to Bill W. and asked if he should do it. It was a case of merely having to hear one's self speak lunacy aloud to another and finally having the lights come on. He didn't do it, of course. I got a kick from this story of human weaknesses, character defects, greed and extravagant pride because I could relate. I never wanted to be a worker among workers, or a cog in the wheel. I always wanted to be the star of the show and most of the production. In his article, mostly a glowing tribute to A.A. and its members, Alexander felt compelled to mention the general emotional immaturity of the alcoholic until he begins to grow up by working A.A.'s 12 steps. I wanted to find the cure for cancer, but without taking all the tedious science and medial classes and doing painstaking research. If the truth be told, I most wanted to be a literary lion with a long trail of bestsellers and appearances on David Letterman and Charlie Rose. Writing was hard work though, and I wanted to find an easier way to become a famous, wealthy author that didn't involve so much time and energy, well, writing, for starters. I wanted fame and wealth to come and strike me like a lightening bolt. I thought about the interviews that enterprising reporters would do with my family, friends, former acquaintances and coworkers who all agreed that they just saw that flash of rare brilliance in me and knew I would shine someday. I really liked imagining those interviews and the letters to the editors of book review publications about my early signs of extreme talent.But right now I needed to take a nap. If I had been an A.A. member in the ear
ly days, I imagine I would give high-priced speeches on the secrets of finding sobriety despite the fact that I only learned the secret was to surrender when the shards of my life were down around my ankles and I wasn't fit for human companionship. Who wouldn't surrender when it got bad enough? Hitting bottom is a rude, rude wake-up call to either grow up or die. I would have been chasing that A.A. gravy train though even if I had to do it still half in the bag and thinking pathetic mush. I would have liked to educate the masses on how alcoholics should be treated in this society. I'd rather teach than be a doer, that's for sure. The ugly truth of this story is that I did once take that I also wanted to cash in on A.A.'s success by working as a certified substance abuse counselor for ten years. In this capacity I used little of what I learned about Counseling Psychology in graduate school, and mostly answered patient questions about the length of my sobriety, my personal story of losing all and regaining my life, and sharing humorous anecdotes about some of the insane things I did while high. These conversations brought me a decent income and some status, even as the two hats I wore grew heavier and more cumbersome. Finally, I decided I never drank or drugged as bad as most of my patients, and I could afford to have just one drink. That led to my losing everything sobriety had given me. I lost my husband, custody of my children, became homeless, unemployable and ill and lost the hope that I could ever return to the beautiful sober life I had enjoyed for 15 years. These circa 1941 recovering alcoholics seem not to have had to ride their delusions into relapses, and I imagine that when they looked back at their thinking during that time they could only attribute this fact to the grace of God. Many hospital treatment programs cash in or seem to on A.A.'s reputation by using their 12 step program as a treatment model and getting all patients, and clients into mandatory meetings as soon as they stop throwing up and shaking after detox. But Alcoholics Anonymous is not responsible for this commercial abuse. A.A. should not be regarded as greedy and money-seeking on this account. They still only get the one dollar or two at most that members put in the basket at meetings to cover literature, and the expenses of keeping the thing going with paid staff workers who are non-A.A. Who or what will next attempt to get rich quick on the 12 steps is only a matter of waiting to see. I believe I have been restored to sanity and just want to leave this world a little better than I found it and I don't plan on getting any public accolades for doing so.

Boy Am I surprised!!! My Blog Lives! People read It! Some folks, especially "Anonymous" comment every few days for months.

We must be real authentic human beings or be eliminated by crap.
Listen to this.  I came over to my old friend Blogger after God knows how many months I've been gone  because I finally missed talking to my readers.  I felt like writing about writing and any bizarre old thing that interests me.  Surprise!  I not only  still had a blog it had readers and people even left comments.  The reader levels for October were better than when I was here faithfully writing.  "Anonymous" probably left 100 comments, but most are complimentary so I publish them.  Some guy named Mike Schaeffer or something like that even published a nice piece on my blog.  I think there were other hackings too, but it's going to take a while for the smoke to clear.

I have so  much to talk about.  I found out yesterday that I am what author Barbara Sher calls a "scanner."  She is the author of  "Wishcraft", but actually I was reading it on a recommendation.  It's titled, love this:"Refuse To Choose:  A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love." I have been camped on that porch since the Sixties, but I'm always glad to brush-up.

 So now there are these people who sound exactly like me and I have adult ADHD, but her book doesn't mention that possibility.    They live to learn but once they know it they start losing interest.  They tried to major in five things in college--at one time.  They read about 8-10 books at a time.  I know that because it's my life.  I am an information junkie like most of our culture.  They start two projects, get distracted, finish neither, start four new ones.  We are the result of a whizzing by culture that has let technology deprive the young of the ability to read more than two lines of ten articles.  Some can't read print much either.

Anyhow, Sher, a life coach, of course, has come up with some ccommodations and tools for people who addicted to knowledge and want to seriously learn five or more things at the same time.  I personally plan to try the avocation stations where every interest has its own separate space and tools.  Check it out.

So I was doing research for months about our current adult education revolution but then things went so fast and there was so much info to process that I guess I crashed and burned.  But I'm not talking about it yet until I totally accept that it could be another of my ubfinished projects.

Hey Sober Bloggers:  Walsh Nov 5, 2013 or we just say the serenity prayer and ask for acceptance, right.  I am amazed how adult everyone is about this.  Earlier recovering candidates in this country did not fare as well and it's a shame

Hey all you novelists and regular folks who think it's cool to write a novel in 30 days:
Are you ready to write a novel? It's almost Nov 1 and time for the annual live in dirty robe all day and night, eating cold fish sticks as you type, and smelling like Starbucks on a Monday morning, a smell I would wear I really love it so much.  Don't you?

Yes,Nanowrimo has come back to suck your last drop of blood, sweat, and self-esteem.  Don't compare.  We each have our own lovely authentic voice which rings like crystal when honest and real.  Speak only from that voice, your soul's voice. Make jt real and don't get hurt out there.  See you in December. 

You novelists not me.  I'm so excited to have my blog back I'll be here tomorrow to speak about ugly book clubs, who is running ads on my blog while I'm not getting AdSense dough, Live Your Legend, loving the work you do and finding your passion, and this:  I'm starting to think that most self-help books looking for transformation are written by high school dropouts who read Psychology Today and Oprah.  I'm tired of getting sermonized by 20-somethings who know nothing except marketing tricks, buzz words, trends and, yeah, sure, how to spiritually evolve and help save the planet when we can be One.  I mean they know that too don't they or is it all niche writing, branding, event email with them?