The Small Bow

The Small Bow

A Recovery Newsletter For Everyone

Interview with a 72-year-old Sober Person: Anne Lamott

“When I first got sober, there was somebody, an oldster, who said to me that at the end he was deteriorating faster than he could lower his standards. And that was the point I got to . . .”

What it’s Like to Use Naltrexone and Other Drugs

TSB readers on using medication to quiet the noise of addiction.

There Is No Xanax, No Seatbelt, No God

Our June check-ins are secretly divorced, selectively disciplined, and not-quite invisible.

Shame

Stranger Things Have Happened

A roundup of our most popular May posts.

acceptance

“Nobody Knows You or Wants You Here.”

Once more into the dumpster library of last worst nights, dear TSB friends

Alcohol

Interview with a 60-year-old Sober Person: Mickey Boardman

“Being an addict and alcoholic is a full time job and I really was employee of the month, every month.”

Rehab

Dog, God, What’s the Difference?

TSB readers on the dogs who changed them.

Into the Dark Room

Small Bow readers tell us their last worst nights (and days)

Interview with a 55-year-old Sober Person: Neda Ulaby

“I crawled back to rehab almost exactly 25 years after my first time there.”

Heavy but True

April check-ins are here . . . good riddance to March!

Seeing Through Time

A roundup of our most popular March posts.

The Edge of Our Awareness

Kyla Jamieson is this month’s TSB Poet Laureate.

TSB Poet Laureate Series

Interview with a 58-year-old Sober Person: Cara Benson

“The slightest slight used to wreck me for days when the person may just have been in a bad mood that had nothing to do with me. I was hostage to the whims of the world. Now, much less so.”

The Only Constant

Part II of our March check-ins.

TSB Check-Ins

Where We Need to Be . . .

. . . and where we’re needed. TSB readers check in as the long winter closes.

TSB Check-Ins

Emotional Sobriety and the Internet: Kathryn Jezer-Morton

“The content I’m looking at doesn’t make me feel bad, it’s the fact of looking, the fact of being defenseless against it.”

They Did the Best They Could

TSB readers on facing the death of a parent who caused them so much pain.

Interview with an 83-year-old Sober Person: Sydney Lea

“I am 83 and if I don’t get drunk or otherwise wasted for the next few months, I will have been clean and sober for 26 years.”

An Unwilling Participant in Your Own Life

This month, we’re trying to live honestly, no matter how much we miss pretending

How To Sleep When the World Won't Let You

How to sleep (or not), part two.

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

“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

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

Here’s to Hanging On by Our Fingernails

New year, new check-ins.

TSB Check-Ins

The Most Fun They Ever Had Getting Somewhere

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

The Small Bow

Interview with a 72-year-old Sober Person: Anne Lamott

What it’s Like to Use Naltrexone and Other Drugs

There Is No Xanax, No Seatbelt, No God

Stranger Things Have Happened

“Nobody Knows You or Wants You Here.”

Interview with a 60-year-old Sober Person: Mickey Boardman

Dog, God, What’s the Difference?

Into the Dark Room

Interview with a 55-year-old Sober Person: Neda Ulaby

Heavy but True

Seeing Through Time

The Edge of Our Awareness

Interview with a 58-year-old Sober Person: Cara Benson

The Only Constant

Where We Need to Be . . .

Emotional Sobriety and the Internet: Kathryn Jezer-Morton

They Did the Best They Could

Interview with an 83-year-old Sober Person: Sydney Lea

An Unwilling Participant in Your Own Life

How To Sleep When the World Won't Let You

How to Sleep When You're Tired

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

Blow It All Up and Disappear Screaming

Here’s to Hanging On by Our Fingernails

The Most Fun They Ever Had Getting Somewhere

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