{"id":17713,"date":"2018-08-01T01:10:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T06:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=18750"},"modified":"2018-07-29T15:53:35","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T20:53:35","slug":"the-sober-pagan-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/08\/01\/the-sober-pagan-7\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sober Pagan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><u><b><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">What\u2019s in Your Toolbox?<\/span><\/b><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><u><b><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-18751\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/soberpagan.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"309\" height=\"403\" \/><\/span><\/b><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">Back when I lived in Lowell, Massachusetts \u2013 several years ago \u2013 I had Comcast cable and one of the stations I received was called Decades. I guess you can receive it on Spectrum cable too but it\u2019s on some wicked expensive package. It\u2019s a cool station \u2013 everyday, they feature the events of <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><i>that day \u2013 <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">whoever\u2019s birthday it is or whatever noteworthy happened on that day \u2013 so the programming changes accordingly. Anyway, every day at 8 in the morning, I would watch an old episode of the Dick Cavett show. Back in the 1970\u2019s, Dick Cavett had a talk show that was as cutting-edge as Johnny Carson\u2019s \u2013 maybe more so. One day, I saw an interview with Dick Van Dyke. Dick Van Dyke was one of the first major celebrities to come out as a recovering alcoholic \u2013 I remember this vividly as a young kid. This was part of the interview. Dick Cavett asked Dick Van Dyke if he was a \u201cmember\u201d of AA. I remember Dick Van Dyke answering that \u201cAA was an important tool\u201d in his \u201ctoolbox\u201d but \u201cit wasn\u2019t the only tool\u201d. That made a big impression on me. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"> I found the interview on YouTube and the link is here, It\u2019s REALLY good. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_75321\"  width=\"960\" height=\"540\"  data-origwidth=\"960\" data-origheight=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EUKV_q-J0Ds?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=1&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/figure><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"> Lots of AA-ers will tell you that <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><i>all <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">you need is AA and more AA to stay sober. Maybe for some people this is true. But not for me. As happy as I am with my new home group, it doesn\u2019t begin to fulfill all my sober or spiritual needs. I am always looking for other groups to attend \u2013 both AA and otherwise \u2013 and I am always searching for new sober skills to add to my toolbox.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"> I created a file called \u2013 duh \u2013 \u201cToolbox\u201d \u2013 and I filled it with everything I have found to add me on my road to recovery. There\u2019s every version of the twelve steps \u2013 or thirteen \u2013 or sixteen \u2013 that I have discovered \u2013 Wiccan versions and Pagan versions and Buddhist versions. There\u2019s a Goddess calendar so everyday I can dedicate the day to the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">G<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">oddess whose day it is. There\u2019s things I myself have written, like this: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\">THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Do not take that first drink. Without the first drink, there is no second drink &amp; there is no third drink &amp; there is no drunk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">With no drunk, there is no running out of money &amp; having to hustle drinks &amp; then getting into questionable sexual situations. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">With no drunk, there is no going to questionable places to get other drugs to get higher than the drunk you already have because drinking doesn\u2019t do it anymore &amp; you have to get more wasted. &amp; than spending money that you were supposed to save for other things. &amp; then wanting to die all night long as you go through withdrawals. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">With no drunk, there is no hangover. No migraine, no diarrhea, no bleeding hemorrhoids. With no drunk, you wake up in the morning &amp; feel fabulous.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\">DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TAKE THAT FIRST DRINK. IT ALL GOES DOWNHILL FROM THERE. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">I also have links to ezines like thefix.com and Just For Today Meditation. I also have non-drinking support aids, like \u201cDirectives on the Healing Road\u201d from <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><u>Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"> by Neil Peart. Sometimes you find sober support in places where you least expect it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">The point is \u2013 what\u2019s in your toolbox is up to you. Create a toolbox and fill it with all the tools you can find. And then <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><i>use <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">those tools! A toolbox filled with tools is no good if it\u2019s never opened and tools are never put to good use! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">Until next month \u2013 Brightest Blessings! And stay sober \u2013 one day at a time! Hugs! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1550225480\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1550225480&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paganpages-20&amp;linkId=3e700f593e3c0d4f8973c2a6ae88b587\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2AmxeFo\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-18752\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/GhostRiderCover-207x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"179\" height=\"259\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><u>References<\/u><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">Peart, Neil. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><u>Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\">. Toronto: ECW Press, 2002. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The Fix: Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Recovery News. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.thefix.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Just For Today Meditation. <a href=\"http:\/\/jftna.org\/jft\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/jftna.org\/jft\/<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The Dick Cavett Show on YouTube. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EUKV_q-J0Ds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EUKV_q-J0Ds<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>***<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-15831\" src=\"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Polly-300x257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"95\" height=\"81\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><b>Polly MacDavid<\/b>\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">She blogs at\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/silverapplequeen.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #b96d00;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">silverapplequeen.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s in Your Toolbox? Back when I lived in Lowell, Massachusetts \u2013 several years ago \u2013 I had Comcast cable and one of the stations I received was called Decades. I guess you can receive it on Spectrum cable too but it\u2019s on some wicked expensive package. It\u2019s a cool station \u2013 everyday, they feature the events of that day \u2013 whoever\u2019s birthday it is or whatever noteworthy happened on that day \u2013 so the programming changes accordingly. Anyway, every day at 8 in the morning, I would watch an old episode of the Dick Cavett show. Back in the 1970\u2019s, Dick Cavett had a talk show that was as cutting-edge as Johnny Carson\u2019s \u2013 maybe more so. One day, I saw an interview with Dick Van Dyke. Dick Van Dyke was one of the first major celebrities to come out as a recovering alcoholic \u2013 I remember this vividly as a young kid. This was part of the interview. Dick Cavett asked Dick Van Dyke if he was a \u201cmember\u201d of AA. I remember Dick Van Dyke answering that \u201cAA was an important tool\u201d in his \u201ctoolbox\u201d but \u201cit wasn\u2019t the only tool\u201d. That made a big impression on me. I found the interview on YouTube and the link is here, It\u2019s REALLY good. Lots of AA-ers will tell you that all you need is AA and more AA to stay sober. Maybe for some people this is true. But not for me. As happy as I am with my new home group, it doesn\u2019t begin to fulfill all my sober or spiritual needs. I am always looking for other groups to attend \u2013 both AA and otherwise \u2013 and I am always searching for new sober skills to add to my toolbox. I created a file called \u2013 duh \u2013 \u201cToolbox\u201d \u2013 and I filled it with everything I have found to add me on my road to recovery. There\u2019s every version of the twelve steps \u2013 or thirteen \u2013 or sixteen \u2013 that I have discovered \u2013 Wiccan versions and Pagan versions and Buddhist versions. There\u2019s a Goddess calendar so everyday I can dedicate the day to the Goddess whose day it is. There\u2019s things I myself have written, like this: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL Do not take that first drink. Without the first drink, there is no second drink &amp; there is no third drink &amp; there is no drunk. With no drunk, there is no running out of money &amp; having to hustle drinks &amp; then getting into questionable sexual situations. With no drunk, there is no going to questionable places to get other drugs to get higher than the drunk you already have because drinking doesn\u2019t do it anymore &amp; you have to get more wasted. &amp; than spending money that you were supposed to save for other things. &amp; then wanting to die all night long as you go through withdrawals. With no drunk, there is no hangover. No migraine, no diarrhea, no bleeding hemorrhoids. With no drunk, you wake up in the morning &amp; feel fabulous. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TAKE THAT FIRST DRINK. IT ALL GOES DOWNHILL FROM THERE. I also have links to ezines like thefix.com and Just For Today Meditation. I also have non-drinking support aids, like \u201cDirectives on the Healing Road\u201d from Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart. Sometimes you find sober support in places where you least expect it. The point is \u2013 what\u2019s in your toolbox is up to you. Create a toolbox and fill it with all the tools you can find. And then use those tools! A toolbox filled with tools is no good if it\u2019s never opened and tools are never put to good use! Until next month \u2013 Brightest Blessings! And stay sober \u2013 one day at a time! Hugs! Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road References Peart, Neil. Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Toronto: ECW Press, 2002. The Fix: Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Recovery News. http:\/\/www.thefix.com Just For Today Meditation. http:\/\/jftna.org\/jft\/ The Dick Cavett Show on YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EUKV_q-J0Ds *** About the Author: Polly MacDavid\u00a0lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic. Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary. She blogs at\u00a0silverapplequeen.wordpress.com. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}