CYNTHIA chats with BARBARA BONE

There’s so much I could say about this remarkable mentor of mine throughout the past 24 years of my recovery … but, at the same time trying to find heartfelt words to describe her, just don’t do my admiration of her justice. She is known officially as Beautiful Barb in Australian recovery circles.  Anyone that meets her, loves her.   A woman of this calibre is a rarity in this world.  Fiercely gentle, loyal and unapologetically boundaried I had a mother crush on Barb when I met her early in my recovery from multiple addictions.  Barb, a fellow alcoholic who was one year sober when I first met her offered to take me for a cuppa when I was just 10 days clean and sober back in 1995, and the rest is history.  She has held my heart and my hand every single day since then.Some people are blessed to have biological elders that are wise lantern bearers who will honour their heart throughout their whole lives.  Others don’t.   We need to find our heart family to emotionally survive in this life.  In so many myths and legends the archetype of a wise elder that appears when our heart has lost its way is a common theme.  The mentor may be like a Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, or a Fairy Godmother, and when they appear they remind us to believe in ourselves, to have hope and to help our fellow man.Beautiful Barb was the first human being that introduced me to heartfelt tears of joy, the most beautiful kind of emotion that up until I met her had eluded me for the first 33 years of my life.  I hope you enjoy the magic of this darling woman as we chat about our battles with the booze, our ego’s, our husbands, parenting sons and being selective with female friends in recovery.  So much to learn, so much to love about Beautiful Barb so grab yourself a cuppa, put your feet up, relax and enjoy this divine woman’s wisdom.