Well, here we are. Mid summer and a month later. This difficult year continues to bring things to deal with and we are doing the best we can. I went on a trip that has been 5 years in the planning. The Alcoholics Anonymous World Conference. It was in Atlanta Georgia and I ended up on my own. It had been a busy time up to leaving and it was difficult finding the energy and enthusiasm I would normally have. My energy and mood has been much lower during this period but, my husband dropped me off and I had a lovely and quiet night with my sister at a hotel near the airport.
Atlanta had its challenges for sure but, I pushed forward and immersed myself in the experience dragging my tired self back on transit each night to the silence of my small dorm room. No matter how tired, I wrote in my journal and reflected on the day. Many high highs and many low lows during that 6 days. I met people from all over the world and my goal was to be present in every moment and that much I managed to do. The highest high was at the Dome with somewhere around 60,000 people from 96 countries all there to celebrate recovery and hope. The flag ceremony was beautiful and the people who shared were incredible. I sat beside a lovely couple and the woman and I cried and embraced --forever connected by this emotional journey. The lowest low would have been on Saturday July 4, with 60,000 people exiting the Dome and all of Atlanta downtown to celebrate Independence Day, not being able to get anywhere. Transit shut down, wall to wall people and no way to get back to the University Dorm where I was staying. A 10-15 minute commute took over 2 hours and the exhaustion had caught up to me. However, the bus I ended up on, when people started getting frustrated at the traffic that was not moving, everyone started singing the Serenity Prayer and that helped and lightened the mood.
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| Georgia Dome Opening Night |
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| Georgia Dome last meeting |
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| Signature on Volunteer Banner |
Richard, Travis and Jenny from Toronto. Day we flew out we did a bit of sightseeing |
Also, on that night unknown to me at the time my son had gotten hit in the head very very hard with a baseball bat. My husband picked him up from the house he was at and took him to the hospital. When I got home 2 days later, it was shocking to see how battered he looked. It has been scary and troubling to deal with this assault and we continue to be vigilant with his safety and overall well-being. It has been difficult. My mood continued to plummet and I became emotionally exhausted from the many traumatic events that happened in a row. I am recovering from this slowly. The past week I have felt myself at work and feel productive and happy while there. Today is the first day that I feel hopeful again while at home. I am protective of what I watch, who I associate with and negative events and information that come to me. Everything we experience has a positive or negative impact and right now, I have to limit the negative information overload. I can detach easily from it at work but, not so easily at home. I am a work in progress.
