It’s Okay to Be Both “It’s Okay To Be Both” by Cristen Rodgers is one of those poems I return to often, each time discovering a new favorite line. Words are an integral part of my daily life, as a writer, a reader, and a woman in recovery who has reconnected with her truth and reclaimed the power of her voice. The words in this poem expand my mind and soften my heart. They straighten my spine and curve my lips. They remind me to be compassionate with myself and others as we embark on this beautiful, unpredictable, and often messy adventure called life. So often in recovery, we fall into the trap of comparing our journey to someone else’s. We think we should be further along in some way than we are. We are surprised when a bad day knocks us off-kilter, or we are disappointed to find ourselves reverting to old, familiar NOMADIC | 24
IT'S OKAY TO BE BOTH
JENNIFER BRIDGMAN
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