Don't want to walk through that door? Anywhere but this meeting? Your life can get better if you just do this one thing: stop drinking.
Picture Recovery is a visual roadmap through the journey of alcohol recovery. The majority of people are visual learners, yet there are few visual aids (images!) to help people stay on the recovery path. Especially in a crisis moment, it's much easier to remember a picture than words, so open to any page right now with the hope that you are later able to recall an image that helps you stay in recovery. Picture Recovery is a great complement to attending meetings, reading the literature, and connecting with people doing well in the program.
Mia McNary (author) is an artist and creative consultant from Glenview, Illinois. In 1995, McNary came to terms with her relationship with alcohol and realized it was time to take the road to recovery; she's been in recovery for twenty-six years now and has attended more than 3,700 meetings. A key constant in her life is her passion for art. McNary possesses the rare ability to capture a speaker's intent by sketching images in real time. This visual-note-taking talent especially helped her to remember what she heard in her 12-step meetings. McNary hopes to aid others' recovery journeys by using her simple images to translate the 12 steps of recovery for the visual learner. Depictions she's created in the illustrated notes are anonymous and capture the broad themes of struggle and redemption.
McNary and her husband, Tim, have three children, Patrick, Colin, and Mary Jane. McNary earned a BFA with an emphasis in design and illustration from Carnegie Mellon University, and she studied at the Studio Art Center International (SACI) in Florence, Italy.
Robin Simkins (editor) is a collaborative leader with deep expertise in Internet marketing. A throughline in her career is a commitment to the physical and mental well-being of employees. Due to a random encounter, Simkins was introduced to McNary and uncovered an opportunity to give back by translating a book of visuals intended to help people stay in recovery. The book is edited for the visual learner to easily see themself, to provide a reminder that they are not alone, and most ideally, to continue to foster a sober lifestyle.
With her husband, George, Simkins has two children. She is passionate about education, music, travel, and the environment and is well known for smiling all day. She holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Law, and she studied around the world on Semester at Sea.
