Five Favorite Things

Doc in Al-Anon tagged me to write my five favorite things. He was tagged by Ed G. I've enjoyed watching this game of tag and reading everyone's contributions. Thanks to you both.

Here are a few of my favorite things today:

1. Books. When I was in the height of my obsession about my alcoholic and my life was unmanageable, I didn't have much time to read. I missed it terribly. Once, when my daughter (my alcoholic) was visiting her dad, I took myself on a solitary retreat to Cape Cod. I spent hours in my room in the B&B and read like a starving person might eat. One book I particularly remember reading on that trip: "Winesburg, Ohio." A book that has changed my life: "Your Money or Your Life."

2. Words. I am a word person. I love words. I've kept a journal for years and I've found writing to be tremendously healing. I was delighted when my sponsor assigned me to write down "all of my memories" as part of my fourth step. It changed the way I saw everything.

3. The ocean. I once joined the Navy because it meant that I would always live near the ocean. I love the sound of it: like faraway applause. I love the briny smell of it. The loneliness of it. Patrolling the ocean comforted me during some very difficult times, like my mother's illness. What I most love are the surprises, that always feel like gifts from God: a pod of dolphins swimming just past the waves, a sealion sitting on a buoy,a sunset.

4. Nature. I didn't always believe in God, but I did believe there was a power in the universe. Being in nature, I felt surrounded by the Divine. I believed that if there was a God, being on a mountaintop was as close as I could get.

5. My husband, who has never judged me, or tried to control me. He has always supported me in whatever I wanted to do. And he has always made me feel loved.