The Small Bow | The Small Bow

Oliver Buchannon

The Small Bow

A Recovery Newsletter For Everyone

How to Sleep When You're Tired

How to Sleep When You're Tired

Our readers write in and tell us how they go to bed each night.

Interview with a 63-year-old Sober Person: Tommy Swerdlow

Interview with a 63-year-old Sober Person: Tommy Swerdlow

“I used to be a bit of a cocky jerk and judgmental asshole, but there’s nothing like a twenty-year heroin habit to knock some of the snot nose out of you.”

Blow It All Up and Disappear Screaming

Blow It All Up and Disappear Screaming

Part Two of our January 2026 (!) check-ins.

Here’s to Hanging On by Our Fingernails

Here’s to Hanging On by Our Fingernails

New year, new check-ins.

TSB Check-Ins

+1

The Most Fun They Ever Had Getting Somewhere

The Most Fun They Ever Had Getting Somewhere

The Best Days of 2025, as told by Small Bow readers

Interview with a 52-year-old Sober Person: Elizabeth Jannuzzi

Interview with a 52-year-old Sober Person: Elizabeth Jannuzzi

“Being alive, that’s the best thing about being in recovery.”

It’s a Threefold Disease

It’s a Threefold Disease

The holidays are here . . . and so is part one of our December check-ins.

Sober anniversary

+14

Spend This Weekend Watching Good Music, Doing Good Things for People

Spend This Weekend Watching Good Music, Doing Good Things for People

The Trey Anastasio Band livestream from The Beacon is free for everyone this weekend.

TSB Podcast

+2

Always In Thanks, No Matter What

Always In Thanks, No Matter What

We have a WOMEN AND NON-BINARY meeting at 1 p.m. PST/4 p.m. EST today. Plus the annual Thomas Lux banger.

Sober Thanksgiving

+6

You Prickly? Freaking Out? How About a Meeting?

You Prickly? Freaking Out? How About a Meeting?

We have one starting at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST on Zoom

TSB Zoom Meetings

Off We Goddamn Go, Guys

Off We Goddamn Go, Guys

Holiday Check-In time — and a poem to help you fight the coming gloam.

Sober Thanksgiving

+2

Panicked? Pissed? You Need a Meeting? Hurry!

Panicked? Pissed? You Need a Meeting? Hurry!

We have one starting at 9:30 a.m. PST/12:30 p.m. EST on Zoom

TSB Zoom Meetings

The Day You Died My Life Was Shaved Ice

The Day You Died My Life Was Shaved Ice

TSB’s Poet Laureate series returns. This month’s poet: Anthony Thomas Lombardi.

TSB Poet Laureate Series

+5

You Feisty? Anxious? You Need a Meeting?

You Feisty? Anxious? You Need a Meeting?

We have one starting at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST on Zoom

TSB Zoom Meetings

Interview with a 51-Year-Old Sober Person: Carvell Wallace

Interview with a 51-Year-Old Sober Person: Carvell Wallace

“I don’t have to become perfect. I just have to get up every day and do the work to get better.”

Sobriety

+5

The Small Bow Podcast Comes Alive

The Small Bow Podcast Comes Alive

Plus the usual rundown: Philip Larkin. Thomas Merton. Thich Nhat Hanh.

TSB Podcast

+1

“Please Don’t Tell My Wife I Was Playing Kickball”: What It’s Like to Go to Rehab

“Please Don’t Tell My Wife I Was Playing Kickball”: What It’s Like to Go to Rehab

Our readers tell their treatment center tales.

Joe Schrank

+4

Sometimes Rehab Isn’t the Answer

Sometimes Rehab Isn’t the Answer

Joe Schrank offers some alternatives.

Joe Schrank

+1

One Minute More

One Minute More

Paying close attention to the present as it rattles all the bones. Nick Flynn's perfection. Buddhism-y quotes about time and tenderness.

Adult Children

+1

It Was as Bad as I Thought

It Was as Bad as I Thought

Say goodbye to Daylight Savings and hello to . . . November check-ins

Sober anniversary

+10

How to Find God In a CVS Parking Lot Off of Vine Street

How to Find God In a CVS Parking Lot Off of Vine Street

Self-seeking on tilt. Raymond Carver's love and mercy. Thich Nhat Hanh to the rescue. TAB.

Lamictal

+2

It’s the Mercy I Can’t Take

It’s the Mercy I Can’t Take

November Check-In Time.

“I’m Never Gonna Stop”: More on What It’s Like to Be Addicted to Weed

“I’m Never Gonna Stop”: More on What It’s Like to Be Addicted to Weed

“Marijuana helps me stay the best version of myself.”

What It's Like...

+1

How to Slay Your Dragons

How to Slay Your Dragons

“The truth is, I have worked hard to not dislike myself so much, but I still worry, sometimes in an acute, frightened, little-kid way, about being too weird and maybe even scary.”

Fear

+3

Interviews with a Bunch of Older Sober People

Interviews with a Bunch of Older Sober People

A look back at another year of Sober Oldster questionnaires.

Sobriety

+5