Hello World!
Tough times don’t last, tough people do. – Robert Schuller
My name is Ciana ‘Ci’, and I am an alcoholic. I’ve struggled with addiction for most of my life. As a teenager I experimented with drugs and alcohol but was always able to stop using drugs without any significant withdrawals or impact. Alcohol on the other hand, was not so easy.
I’ve maintained sobriety in the past for long periods of time but always given in to ‘one drink’. For those of us suffering from addiction you know that one drink is too many, and one more is never enough. I wanted this time to be different, I needed this time to be different, because no matter how much I lied to myself and tried to lie to everyone else, I could see the effects in every aspect of my life.
So, I went to rehab! I started journaling as part of my daily routine in rehab. I kept thinking about something I heard there that really resonated with me. I watched a recording of Brene Brown who said, “One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else’s survival guide.” I don’t know if this blog will become someone else’s survival guide or just my journal to reflect back on later, I will be stronger for it either way.
May you be sober and happy always! Ci
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Another Day, Still Sober
7.30.25 This morning I was drinking my coffee on the deck when the prettiest hummingbird came to the feeder just three feet away from me. Most of the hummingbirds I see are all brown, but this one had shimmering blue and green on its chest. One more of those little things I notice in sobriety,
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Specific Gratitude
7.29.25 I wanted to share tonight about the topic of being more specific in our gratitude—really taking the time to name why we’re grateful for someone or something, and noticing the little things we often missed when we were drinking. It’s easy to rattle off the big stuff: health, family, a roof over my head.
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Breaking the Cycle
7.28.25 I found myself stuck again in that lonely place called self-pity—cranky, restless, and full of anxiety most of the day. By 7 o’clock, my mind was racing at 100 miles an hour, and I couldn’t get out of my own head. I knew if I didn’t leave early for the 8 o’clock meeting, I
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A Big Small World of Women
7.27.25 I got to start the day and week opening up the meeting room and making coffee while a friend is on vacation this week. I knew who the monthly speaker was going to be this morning and was excited to hear her story. As soon as women started arriving, I quickly put the puzzle