Title: My Story to Yours: A Guided Memoir for Writing Your Recovery Journey
Author: Karen Casey
Synopsis:
Reflecting on and telling our stories is a time-honored tradition in recovery circles—whether in silent meditation, speaking out at meetings, or between sponsors and their sponsees. Recounting our experience of moving from a life of addiction to one of sobriety helps us realize how far we've come and how grateful we are to the people and events that led us there.
In this beautifully written guided memoir, best-selling author Karen Casey invites us to write down our stories while engaging in hers. We follow Casey from her childhood to a life of addiction. We struggle with her through the depths of destruction and despair, then experience her rebirth as she pulled herself out of the darkness and into the light of recovery. At key turning points in her narrative, Casey pauses her story to encourage us to face difficult memories, verbalize our feelings, or express our own stories through practical exercises, thought-provoking questions, and inspiring ideas.
Who is the audience?:
This book is intended for anyone in recovery, whether newcomers or old-timers, looking for inspiration and ways to reflect on their own recovery. Some readers may be nervous about sharing their own story, or have a hard time knowing what’s important and how to start. Casey’s book provides thoughtful questions and writing exercises along with her own recovery story.
Reading Assignments:
- Week 1: Preface, Introduction, and Prologue
- Week 2: What It Was Like—Early Paths I Followed
- Week 3: What Happened—Veering Toward the Edge
- Week 4: What It’s Like Now—Forgiveness as the Way Home
Discussion Questions:
How do these stories reflect your experience entering recovery and living the steps?
How does the process of telling your story to someone else serve your recovery? How does it serve you differently when you write your story in a journal or diary, for your eyes only?
What do you find significant about the details you remember most vividly versus those that are harder to recall?
How do you hope to inspire someone new in recovery through your own story? Was there a story told to you early in recovery that inspired you?
About the Author:
Karen Casey, Ph.D., is the author of many books devoted to the enhancement of one’s personal and spiritual journey, including Cultivating Hope and A Woman’s Spirit. Her book Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women has sold more than three million copies.
Visit her personal website and blog at www.womens-spirituality.com