Week 1: Wading Into Recovery
New series for paid subscribers: From Wounds to Wisdom: Recovery & Resurrection
Hello!
I am excited about sharing the first newsletter of this new series: From Wounds to Wisdom. To join the journey and receive weekly posts, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It’s behind a paywall for various reasons.
This series is an invitation into a contemplative and reflective journey, peeling back the layers on behaviors that keep you stuck and are leading to burnout.
It’s an invitation to lament and let go,
to exercise your imagination,
to encounter the living Christ,
to dive deep into your inner life.
I can't promise, nor do I imagine that you expect the road to be easy, straight, and narrow. Quite a few people have told us otherwise, including Jesus as he invited the rich man to lay aside his attachments: "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God." (Matt. 19:24)
First we might consider if we are ready to get in the water, to dip our toes in, and begin to wade.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will invite you to consider:
Support: who do you want to travel with you in this journey? (More on that next week)
Behavior: what one behavior has become unmanageable or burdensome? I will be sending two recommended assessments to help you clarify what you want to focus on.
Intention: how ready are you to make changes?
Perhaps it is a symptom of a larger challenge, perhaps it is a societally endorsed addiction you are aware of such as codependency, workaholism, or addiction to shopping, food, or screens. For those struggling with overuse of drugs or alcohol, it is essential to also have other structures--navigating withdrawal without the necessary medical support can be life-threatening.
Clearly different addictions affect our bodies in more severe ways, yet they all seek in some ways to do the same thing, to numb us from our emotions. The journey of recovery, of contemplation creates space for emotions to surface.
If you are not in a season of life where your health is stable in order to experience those emotions, I recommend waiting until you are ready.
Also, the intent of these reflections is not to process your whole life story. I have a Burnout & Recovery Resource List with other soul care programs, therapeutic resources, trauma-informed training, and life coaching if you are looking for something more intensive.
overview
You will receive weekly emails with reflections, practices, and journal prompts.
In the first section, I will lead you through Steps 1-7 of the Twelve Steps. We will have a couple of weeks before Ash Wednesday and Lent begins.
The second section will accompany us through Holy Week and into Easter. It is not that Recovery ends and Resurrection begins. For this reason I did not choose the subtitle, “From Recovery to Resurrection”. It is not that simple in our world, and for our beloved human bodies.
Journal Prompts:
o When were some times when you felt connected to your inner world?
o What comes up for you when you slow down, be?
o What keeps you from having enough time to resource your inner life?
What are your hopes for this journey of Recovery & Resurrection?
Poem for Meditation:
Read the whole poem here: Lazarus Blessing, by Jan Richardson from her book, Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
“The secret
of this blessing
is that it is written
on the back
of what binds you.
To read
this blessing,
you must take hold
of the end
of what
confines you…”
-Jan Richardson
I do not pretend this will be easy. May you have the support you need as you as you “take hold of what confines you”. As always I welcome your feedback and comments!
deep grace and peace to you on this journey,
Bethany Dearborn Hiser
That looks like a beautiful journey! I also love Jane’s blessing. As I am planning to launch a healing journey also, may be we can encourage each other on the way? Blessings, Almut