“An Al-Anon member may devote a lot of time to reading scientific books on alcoholism because she imagines it will make her better able to cope with ‘the problem.’” (ODAT, 22 July)
Knowing why I was neurotic did not stop me from being neurotic. I stopped being neurotic by stopping being neurotic, moment by moment. At some point there’s nothing left but change. That did not involve eliminating the neurosis. It involved setting it aside and not having it jaundice my view and run my life. The little machine sits in the corner moping, dreading, fretting, but it’s like one of those children’s plastic kitchens where the cooking is sham and you can’t drink the tea.