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Upcoming Events -
Community Based
(not LAP sponsored; a clearing house of information for recovery related events around the state)

RCS Spiritual Retreats
May 16-18 (Jesse Sell)

June 13-15 (Martin Brooks)

July 11-13 (Lisa Jo Read)

Visit Renewal Center of the South for more information.


Submissions to the Sidebar are Welcome See guidelines for submissions


Annual Report
View the 2013 Annual Report


There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.

—Howard Thurman


Putting Work Ahead of Sobriety

Whatever we put ahead of our sobriety will be the second thing we lose after sobriety. Attached is the story of how this lawyer’s first job became more important than his sobriety, and how that experience shaped him as a sober attorney. Read More

If you are interested in contributing your own story to the Sidebar, click here. The Sidebar is supported by the stories of our readers, and we appreciate your contributions.


How I Almost Became Another Lawyer Who Killed Himself

Suffering from depression is like being in the bottom of a dark hole with—as you perceive it from the bottom—no way out. Here is the story of how one lawyer clawed his way to the top of the hole and found a way out from that darkness. Read More

If you are interested in contributing your own story to the Sidebar, click here. The Sidebar is supported by the stories of our readers, and we appreciate your contributions.


Practice Perspectives

One author shares his positive experience of writing for the Sidebar, and encourages others to share their stories for the Sidebar. Read More

If you are interested in contributing your own story to the Sidebar, click here. The Sidebar is supported by the stories of our readers, and we appreciate your contributions.


Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying. There was no mention of missed bungee jumps. Among the top regrets is, “I wish I hadn't worked so hard.” What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life? Read Article from the Guardian


Law Firms Taking Steps to Address Depression

Guidelines launched to tackle the high rate of depression in the law, a “World’s First” that has been several years in the making. The initiative began in Australia, and international firms with NC ties, like K & L Gates, are among the founding signatories of the guidelines. Read Lawyers Weekly


Something to Consider

Persona and shadow are correlative terms. Your persona is what most people want from you and reward you for—and what you choose to identify with, for some reason. Your shadow is what you refuse to see about yourself, and what you do not want others to see. Our shadow self runs deeper than the “defects of character” we inventory in step work. Examining those defects via step work, however, is a good window through which to glimpse our shadow side. It can be hard to swallow when we first come face-to-face with our own shadow, especially as it appears in our persona. The important thing is to learn from it, because it is the gateway to true freedom. Some call this pattern the discovery of the “golden shadow” because it carries so much enlightenment for the soul. As we continue to do our inner work, we begin to know that self-image is nothing more than just that, and not worth protecting, promoting, or denying.  

-Adapted from Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation (and Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life).


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