It is DAY ONE here at Out of the Ashes, a brand new collaboration in it’s infancy stage, and we welcome you to come and follow us along. Life is full of “new beginnings,” and […]
Tag: Hope

Winds of Change
The sky is ablaze, Logic is lost in anger, Winds of change are here. I needed to work on some art, and post some words today. Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge: Anger & Logic sort of […]

The Jubilant Journey
This Alphabet Game is great because it prompts me to explore words. Words link to other words and—as I follow the trail—ideas literally spell themselves out. I thought it would be fun to share my […]

Dreamers of Dreams
D is for Dreams
Everyone knows what dreams are, but I wanted to find a more personal way to describe them. Not the dreams we have when we’re asleep; the dreams we dream when we’re awake. I poked around google and found exactly what I was searching for:
A synonym for dream is HOPE.

Birds of a Feather
—Feathers of Hope Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul— and sings the tune without the words— and never stops— at all. Emily Dickinson This image is something I’ve been itching […]

Come Together
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. —Henry Ford This is a bit of a mishmosh of thoughts, but it all ties together. First of all the image is […]

In This Moment (Trust)
Separating topics is not easy. Not on the blog, anyway. I did some tinkering and there is no logical way to do it. I think that going to regular A.A. meetings (and looking to be of service) […]
Day One
I’m scrapping all of my old image ideas today.
One year ago yesterday I was checking myself into the hospital, totally polluted. Today is the one year anniversary of my first day of sobriety, so I’m calling this day ONE.
A Tale of Redemption
A few things happened today that really moved me, but I’m only going to talk about one for now. Tonight was the meeting that I co-secretary for, and it turned out to be a pretty emotional […]
Signs of Change
Now that I’m back in the realm of randomness, I’m messing with alterations. This is a street sign by my old High School. Actually, it’s the street that I used to hang out on when I […]
Make Yourself at Home
A house is made of bricks and beams. A home is made of hopes and dreams.
Art: A Great Read
I’m sharing someone else’s words today. “An old silent pond. Into the pond a frog jumps. Splash! Silence again.” It is perhaps the best known of all Japanese haiku. No subject could be more humdrum. […]
Confessions: Part Seven
We had an interesting topic come up during our meeting last night. The enemy. Cunning, baffling and powerful. I decided that this subject would be a great opener for the final chapter. Why DO we believe […]

2016 Reflections
What a year! My cousin posted on Facebook that she was tired of hearing people talk about how bad 2016 has been—so she listed all of the good things that happened in her life throughout […]

Joy in Giving
My cousin is great at knitting and crocheting. She makes batches of scarves that are shipped out to women in shelters and she asked me to write something that could go on a card with each […]
Conversation with God
Father, you feel so far away,I’m not sure that my words are right.All I ask is to feel you near…Did you hear my prayer last night? Open your eyes my little one,Remember the veil was […]
Feeling Free
I took this on a Ferry in Texas a few years ago. I was going to crop out the stranger in the corner, but I decided that I liked the way her hair was blowing. It reminded me of freedom.

A Child of God
Asking God to help me see my life from His perspective is what truly helped me. I went back forty years, to when I was lost in that awkward limbo between childhood and adulthood, and serious […]

A Step Forward
There’s a term pink cloud that refers to a state of mind in early sobriety, characterized by extreme happiness and grandiosity, in spite of problematic conditions. The newly sober person feels high on life because they’re experiencing […]

The Great Escape
It may seem odd that I always look on the bright side of things, but that’s how I roll. I’m an optimist ninety-eight percent of the time. I don’t enjoy writing the other two percent […]
Fighting to Win
Never be afraid to tell your story because there’s somebody who needs to hear it. I have to keep telling myself that. I get those little twangs inside, telling me to just stop—that I’ve already […]

A Sprinkle of Faith
There were a few things that were weighing heavy on my mind when I first reached out to my friend Gil. He’s the one that I wrote about in Hearing God’s Whisper. I had reached […]

A Lighter Load
Some people won’t look up to God until He puts them on their back. That point really hit home for me. Agony, sickness and feelings of despair definitely put me on my back. I was […]
Reality Check
I’m going to get REAL right now and tell you that I started this blog to share my new faith in God, the ups and downs of my journey through recovery, and the wonderful discoveries […]