Depression
+4
by The Small Bow Family Orchestra
Sunday Small Bow
+1
Gratitude roundup 2023.
+2
A TV writer reflects on her shitty summer of magical realism.
Relapse
To quit drinking and drugs on January 1st, 2024.
AA Sponsorship
+8
Recovery and loss during holidays. Dickens Et Cetera. A killer from Louise Glück.
Sober parenting
+6
How to not yell at your toddlers.
Sobriety
+7
A roundup of Sober Oldster collaborations.
Ask a Sober Oldster
"I am, by anyone’s standard, pretty damned close to death; I don’t think much about death unless I stop living my life, as my recovery community advises, a day at a time."
"A priest, a counselor, and a boyfriend recommended I try AA, and I’m glad I did."
"Not all my friends are sober, and that's fine with me."
Dementia
+11
An interview with our resident interventionist, Joe Schrank, about how to help the addict you love during the holidays. Plus our usual recovery rundown and a dreamy Frank O'Hara classic.
mental health
This is the one The Small Bow readers loved more than any other.
About The Small Bow
+3
A Year-End Roundup of Notes on the Creative Process in Recovery.
+10
More dementia stuff. Four Agreements revisited. Plus, a good haunting Linda Pastan poem, mirth amidst the ruins et cetera.
"Once I finally crossed over to the he-did-the-best-he-could side of the aisle it was too late for us to reconcile, or for him to remember me."
Sober Holidays
Lots of reading recommendations about common suffering. Plus, quotes from Montaigne about death, a James Tate heartbreaker, brain stuff.
"I think about those grim Christmases more than I do the magical ones."
Caring for Elderly Parents
Sometimes the best gift is not being yourself.
It's the happiest unhappy time of the year. Plus, quotes from Thomas Merton, a Mary Oliver poem, and the rest of the log.
Drunk Holiday Stuff
"I woke up to a coffee table full of smushed-up Fen-Phen, a tube of half-eaten summer sausage, and crumpled cellophane full of loose nuts."
"I somehow managed to dislike myself intensely and simultaneously think that if only everyone saw everything as I did, most likely we’d spontaneously have world peace."
The emotional overload season is upon us. Plus, Robert James Waller, Pema Chödrön, a Stephen Dunn poem, cool ills.
Alcoholism
+5
"They were out in full force, practically screaming almost. The day was theirs now."
