leaving prison

On the second Thursday of the month, I go to a prison meeting at the WA State Reformatory in Monroe. Today marked 10 years at meetings at the WSR for me. When I started going, there were about 8 others going out to the same meeting with me. Two of those people died of natural cases. The rest moved on to different places in their lives. Now 4 other people go out there with me. Two of the inmates have been going to the meetings since long before I was going to the WSR.

Tonight was another excellent meeting. We talked about having to deal with the compulsion to gin-up a sense of loss for ourselves instead of living in the moment of the life we have. At the meetings, we learn from each other how to live in the moment of the life we have. If we do that, our lives are reasonably good. If we get stuck thinking about what we don’t have, our lives inevitably come out on the short end of the perception stick and suck.

I am grateful for the friends I have made in my recovery and the pleasant emotional equilibrium I have achieved in the last 12 years.