The Day I Came To: Why I’m Reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Controversial Book
September 9th, 1984: my recovery began. September 9th, 2025: Gilbert’s book released. Forty-one years later, we’re all headed to the river.
For the pile-on.
As
said, next level:I invite anyone who’s so enraged by Liz Gilbert right now to simply check yourself and ask why?
And
in her own words:And why would I check with anyone outside of myself to see what I am, who I am, whether I’m admirable or repulsive, or if am worthy of love?
Why, indeed, when I have access to what we call SOUL around here, the Spirit of Unconditional Love, which has spent decades now gently assuring me that I do not need to seek evidence of my worth anywhere outside of my own heart.
Over here, on There’s Nothing Wrong With You (And There Never Was) I’ve been quietly writing a message sourced from the same river. Recovery (from anything) for all of us. In August I celebrated a year on Substack.
In 2016, I started an experiment with a column at The Rumpus Voices On Addiction. It had a long and fruitful run. When it launched at The Rumpus, it was one of the only mainstream literary platforms giving space to recovery stories alongside fiction, essays, and political commentary. That placement meant people who might never have sought out addiction stories read them anyway—and recognized themselves.
And it mattered.
Last month I decided to move it to my Substack in its own section and renamed it The W(hole)🕳️ Recovery (From Anything) with the tagline Recovery puts the W in the hole.
The W(hole) 🕳️ is an expansion, making room for all your stories - not just those on the spectrum of addiction or its impact (on loved ones and the community) but for anyone in recovery (from anything). That makes all of us.
Thank you
for this book. I’m on chapter two. Look for more in my next post.It’s National Recovery Month. 9-9 is a magic day for me and always will be.
It’s the day I came to. The rest is my book.
More on Sunday.
There’s Nothing Wrong With You (And There Never Was) —True stories from the far side of unlearning.
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Introducing THE W(HOLE)🕳️: Voices on Addiction (formerly at The Rumpus) Evolves + How To Submit
When it launched at The Rumpus in 2016, Voices on Addiction was one of the only mainstream literary platforms giving space to recovery stories alongside fiction, essays, and political commentary. That placement meant people who might never have sought out addiction stories read them anyway—and recognized themselves.
The W(HOLE)🕳️ Recovery (from anything) Recovery puts the W in the HOLE. Find submission guidelines and archives on my home page in the navigation menu. New essays launch September 2025 for National Recovery Month.
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Formerly Voices on Addiction at The Rumpus
In case you missed it, my latest post went viral!
The Lottery of Girlhood: Groomed Before Epstein, Before Weinstein
I was born and raised in a high-control religion outsiders called the 2x2s. The cult was secretive and insular, yet threaded through larger society. Years later, FBI investigations would expose the rampant sexual abuse within the sect, but as a child, I only knew that my family belonged to the one true way.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.” —Hamlet
I've been reading - more like hungrily consuming - your writing for a while now. I'm not sure why it took me so long to upgrade...I've thought about it a lot. I think it's just taken me a while to accept your outstretched hand and the invitation to believe there has never been anything wrong with me. I thank you for spreading this message with the world. ~
I am reviewing it for Sinister Wisdom but I have been following the back and frothing because the book I am working on reprises many of the issues my queer community faced in 1960 with added burdens. Love addiction is one of the biggest issues to unpack in a society that romances it especially for women and girls.
Great book, love it. Not just for the love addiction angle that is, at least in Germany, seldom mentioned at all, more for the general addiction angle. And she has done her homework with statistics, too. Despite it being still a memoir (cross-over)