Soulshine

Now that song comes again and I still remember you saying ”Young boy afraid to risk for love to take a chance No light, no love will ever grow Inside your house of stone.” Now that song comes again (Oh, no, no) I still remember you saying ”Young boy who could not ask for love Your chance has passed No light, no love will ever grow.” I will build a house of stone. House of Stone by Roaring Boys I remember first hearing the song House of Stone back in the early 1980s. The melody wrapped its way around my stony little heart and tugged me down to my knees as the lyrics hit me like a brick upside my head. I knew I had built a house of stone around my heart, but I didn’t know what to do about it. On the one hand, my house of stone protected me-- to some degree-- from the pain of the outside world. But, on the other hand, it kept me from being vulnerable and from connecting with other people. It’s stealth protection meant that I couldn’t let any love in—not even ...

 “You know it’s on your mind So get on up until you dance Try it out You’ll never know until you do Try it out Take a chance You can do it Try it out Don’t feel sorry for yourself You can make it Try it out Take the time, take a chance Every minute, every day Try it out” Gino Soccio, Try It Out Too often in life, we don’t want to “try it out.” We’re afraid of taking risks. We’re afraid to get outside of our selves, outside of our own internal head-worlds. Essentially, we’re afraid to live life in the real world. This is especially true for many recovering people because we have been so damaged by outside sources, by people in the real world. For some of us, it’s even terrifying to think of attending our first 12 Step meeting. We’ve become so accustomed to holding ourselves inside of our own little world, that we are fearful to let ourselves out; to be vulnerable in front of other people. We are fearful and we are often trapped in the darkness of our...