PRIME

Zofia found a portion of another definition for “earworm” embedded in an article published in the British Journal of General Practice. Zofia found the snippets of that article to be particularly accurate as well as humorous: “Psychologically, earworms are a ‘cognitive itch.’” 

PRIME

“Thank God,” Flo whispered to herself. I’m going to need way more time alone to process this before I’m ready to share it with anybody, she thought, moving over to the couch and making sure to get herself extra comfortable before plunging back into what appeared to be akin to the wardrobe door in C.S. Lewis’ most popular book.

PRIME

Dr. Flo and the others made it home from their drive through the city just in time to hear the United States President give an unusual speech. Once the speech was over and the others had moved on to other pursuits, Zofia’s incessant curiosity got the best of her...

PRIME

“How about we table this for now?” Ice Pick suggested in a tone that everyone understood made the verbalization more of a demand than a request. “Welcome home, Zofia! What would you like for dinner?” Ice Pick said...

PRIME

Someone was pissing and moaning, pissing and moaning. Flo noticed but couldn’t be bothered to identify who the Someone was. She had the distinct feeling that the Someone was becoming more and more irritable...

PRIME

Dr. Flo sat in the now familiar position of staring at the blinking cursor at the beginning of the freshly opened document on her laptop. So much has happened, and I have such a difficult time summarizing, she thought. I hope I get better at that soon, her mind added. “Practice makes perfect,” Someone Else piped up.

PRIME

Dear Phillip,‍ I really appreciate your taking the time to write to me the way you did when I asked you questions last week. It was so soothing to know...

PRIME

Today’s the day I have chosen to start to stop avoiding Life. Now don’t get too excited - that likely means something VERY different to me than it means to you. Every day I snooze my alarm once or twice (three times on a bad day). 

PRIME

Milo sat gingerly on the edge of his seat, staring off into space. Patience, his friends in the Circling Community had advised this morning when he told them about the text message exchanges he had had with Phillip this week.

PRIME

Milo rolled over, adjusting his pillows as he allowed his body to sink further into the King sized bed that filled the majority of the room in his new apartment. He felt so lucky and so grateful - followed by the guilt accompanying his awareness of the privileges that led him to the comfort of this moment...

PRIME

Good afternoon, Audience, Dr. Flo here! Just hung up from the Zoom call with my good friend Hunter after completing today’s Wrecked America podcast. I’m feeling pretty fired up about the concepts we were talking about today so I’m just going to run with this on my own - I’ll let you know if anyone else shows up and takes over the keyboard (Leo’s been known to do that on occasion). 

PRIME

Leo sat at the kitchen table placed appropriately in the dining nook of the apartment. This table may be properly placed, but that’s about the only thing in here that is, he grumbled to himself. Although he appeared relatively serene on the outside, internally there was a sense of shock and overwhelm owing to the adventures of the past several weeks and the discombobulation culminating in the move. 

PRIME

The question Chop asked had been reverberating in Dr. Flo’s ears for weeks now: Do you truly believe that these default patterns can genuinely change in any real and lasting way? The question troubled Flo quite a bit, a reaction that she probably shouldn’t have been surprised by. 

PRIME

If the experience of sitting in front of the blank computer screen with the blinking dot hadn't been so familiar, Dr. Flo would have sworn she was experiencing some serious deja vu. The clock ticked. Flo stared out the window in her home office - home for now - the home she and Kari had shared, the home that Flo was looking forward to moving out of ASAP. 

PRIME

“Dude, wouldn’t it have been so cool - so, so cool - to have had a class in school about codependency and healthy relationships? Like, why not? Really, why is this not a thing? Before all the neural pathways have a chance to take root, children could learn about what codependency and love addiction and trauma bonding look and feel like and what to do about it..."

PRIME

Flo gently batted away the feline face that was perched upon her pillow. Of the three cats, only the oldest male had ever utilized the strategy of eating Flo’s hair in order to awaken her. Luckily he only did this on mornings when Dr. Flo slept late. Unfortunately, the behavior - which Flo perceived as odd and somewhat creepy - was usually effective, thereby likely conditioning the cat for future carnivorous behavior.

PRIME

“Holy shit, that man’s eyes are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen” Dr. Flo whispered to Chop as she tried to concentrate on anything else. Flo noticed her heart racing and she felt something oddly unnamable in her throat. 

PRIME

“What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition,” Dr. Flo heard from inside and outside her own mind, various voices all unanimous in gratitude for the mercy and grace they had been shown. 

PRIME

Dr. Flo let out a heavy sigh as she reviewed her laminated copy of the Promises of Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous. Her eyes lighted on the very last promise of the list: “We will be thankful for what has been given to us, what has been taken away, and what has been left behind.” Thus far in her journey, Dr. Flo experienced this promise...

PRIME

I should likely always wait to start writing until after I talk to Hunter, Dr. Flo thought as she contemplated how she might condense her experiences over the past several weeks into a coherent narrative. In their most recent dialogue, Hunter described his growing awareness of the myriad ways in which his experiences...

PRIME

I don’t know who’s going to write this one, Dr. Flo thought, struggling to focus her mind on the task at hand. Flo heard a rustle behind her and turned around to see Chop standing there, wiping away the tears in her eyes as she slowly shook her head from side to side, wordlessly indicating her decision to decline the invitation once again. 

PRIME

“I filled out all my paperwork at home, and they don’t have it,” a lady with white hair and cut off jean shorts complained to the man standing in the other line next to her. “She’s been standing there for fifteen minutes,” the man responded to the lady, gesturing at one of the pharmacists. Waiting in line at the pharmacy for her Booster Vaccine, Dr. Flo continued to eavesdrop...

PRIME

Damn, these sobriety muscles are rusty, Dr Flo thought as she put the phone down after texting back and forth with her new sponsee. How does this work again? What am I doing? Should I even be trying to do this at this point? What do I tell the alcoholic who still suffers when I have barely cracked the Big Book this year?

PRIME

Over two and a half years had passed since that first day of sobriety on April Fool’s Day in 2019. Dr. Flo at first felt a little nervous last night when the old college friend she was meeting up with for dinner suggested a place best known for its beer selection. It had been a bit too long since Dr. Flo had attended a 12 step meeting..

PRIME

That little morsel of information was just one of a number of trust fouls encountered by Flo and Kari early in their relationship, and within the first year, after Kari didn’t take well to Dr. Flo’s first few attempts at using “I statements,” Dr. Flo did what any good love addict does, put down her step work, and made Kari her Higher Power.

PRIME

Chop dropped down to her knees and turned to face the wall. “Chop, what’s up, honey?” Dr. Flo said softly, pausing in the midst of tying her shoes to look Chop’s way. Chop turned her head, communicating with her eyes that she heard the care in Dr. Flo’s voice. Chop then turned back toward the wall, burying her face in her hands, and stretching into Child’s Pose...

PRIME

Maybe it’s true what they say about creativity and madness, Dr. Flo thought as she pondered the seemingly impossible task of using the symbols of the English language to communicate the special significance of recent learnings. Continuing briefly with that line of thought, Dr. Flo realized, with more than a little surprise, that attempts to describe...

PRIME

So this is what it feels like to wait until the last minute to complete a project, Dr. Flo thought. Such a helpless feeling. It had been another week in another month in another year that appeared to be turning into a decade of Reckoning. 

PRIME

The insight about the duct tape regeneration sent shock waves through her nervous system as Dr. Flo gritted her teeth and kept her head down, willing herself to restrain the impulse to allow all the problems to once again get swept under the rug. “When will I learn?!” She spoke out loud to nobody in particular. Flo tasted the bitter pill of resignation underlying intellectually forced acceptance. 

PRIME

Dr. Flo sat propped up in bed, staring at the empty document aglow with the blinking cursor on her new Macbook. Noticing the way it felt to admit to her recent purchase, she deepened her breath as the combination of embarrassment, guilt, and anxiety slowly rose and spread throughout her chest and into her throat. Damn, you’re sensitive, Flo, said the Voice in her head...

PRIME

Catching sight of the golden rays of sun peeking through the leaves of the trees lining the sidewalk, Leo slowed down long enough to appreciate the growing familiarity of the sights. The dusk air felt crisp as Leo pulled the zipper of his blue sweater up and warmed his hands inside his pockets, making his way down the block to the delicatessen on the corner.

PRIME

ICE PICK here, and I am HOT today (in more ways than one). If I were you, I’d BACK THE FUCK UP, sit down, shut up, and LISTEN. Alright, alright, Dr. Flo’s nudging me, reminding me about catching more flies with honey and shit. I’ll try, Flo, sheesh. You see that?! You could take a lesson or two from me about how to LET SOME GODDAMN WOMEN INFLUENCE YOU. That is, if you can open your rigid, tight ass, thick skull...

PRIME

The World’s Opening Back Up! So says the Media, and the push and pull of societal pressure claws at my neck and bites my ankles. I’m supposed to rush out from behind these safe walls, joyous and full of delight at the prospect of meeting and resuming Normal Life. I should feel happy and excited. Not terribly unexpectedly - I don’t.

PRIME

Just TOO DAMN IMPATIENT to let it play it out, eh? Not really a big surprise there. It seems to me that the vast majority of MOTHERFUCKERS in this country can’t seem to delay gratification for even a measly ten minutes let alone ten weeks. Fine, you want the shit spelled out for you? Watch me while I drop it in your mouth like you’re some damn, newborn baby bird.

PRIME

Muscle tension and the pain of the beginning stages of arthritis in her knees pulled Dr Flo from her reverie. Damn, I could really use a meeting, Flo thought as she used the brick wall behind the dumpster to get back on her feet, stretching and neck rolling her way up. Sensing that her time spent reminiscing might have lasted a bit too long given the context of her current life situation, Dr. Flo only hesitated a moment to contemplate her next move...

PRIME

Leo stared incredulously, mouth agape at the sight of Milo. It's all falling down, Leo thought. It's all collapsing around me. Leo could feel the adrenaline and cortisol crashing through his veins as clamoring strategies and plans of potential action swirled in and out of his mind. "There’s got to be another way!" he heard himself say out loud, startling at what he recognized as an echo of a familiar voice from the past. Overwhelmed with the amount of evidence currently suggesting that his life's mission had failed, Leo began to dig in his pockets, feeling the pebbles he picked up on the sandy shore last night...

PRIME

"But, as for me, I'm getting out!" Dr. Flo’s final yell startled Milo awake, and he sleepily lifted his head, taking care to avoid bopping his noggin on the metal frame of his bunk as he had done too many times before. Can't afford to lose any more brain cells while I'm stuck in this crap hole, Milo thought as he lifted himself up, got to his feet, and tiptoed gingerly to the front of his cell.

PRIME

Winded yet invigorated, Dr. Flo rounded the corner and hauled ass down the pavement in the near empty city. Spotting a large, green dumpster littered with spray paint tags, she glanced quickly over her shoulder before coming to a full stop and plopping down out of sight for a rest. Sweet escape, Dr. Flo thought, as a slow, mischievous grin slid across her face.

PRIME

"Fuck that noise!” I hear Dr. Flo yell from the corner of my mind. I can feel her wrestling around in there, pounding fists in my chest, and then grasping, clutching at my throat. "I'm gonna say it loud and proud whether you like it or not," Flo utters between clenched teeth, “And I'm gonna say it with authority, damn it! "