235. “Many Roads, One Journey”
The full title of the book is Many Roads, One Journey—Moving Beyond the 12 Steps by Charlotte Davis Kasl. I’ve been reading this book slowly over a number of months. It has sixteen steps (rather than the twelve steps of AA) and they are in fact empowerment steps.
She spends the first half of the book talking about why AA doesn’t work for everyone, and particularly people who have been abused or oppressed. I have to admit that I skipped to her sixteen steps, wrote them down on 3×5 cards, and then went back to the beginning.
But in my slow reading of the book, I’ve been working the sixteen steps. I think they could be used any number of ways—addiction, healing from abuse, but also just plain living. They are good reminders and I use them that way. I’ve made a mandala to match each step and it sits on a picture stand so I pass it throughout the day, letting it remind me of the step for this day.
It’s a powerful book that ends up making me feel more power within myself.
