My mind was blown today before I got out of bed.
Well played, Twitter. You were right, I do in fact like this. There's an algorithm win.
I grew up understanding that addiction was a monster. It took away your personality and replaced it with a selfish being that looked like the addict but wasn't really them anymore. At least when they were using. So really I guess I saw addiction like vampirism. Not their fault, but it made them off limits to me.
I can't really say why I this was how I thought. I don't know that there was someone who taught that to me specifically. I just know that that is how I understood it. I understood the context of my alcoholic grandfather in that way, and I understood the very real prospect of my grandmother becoming an alcoholic at some point in that same way. Over the years, friends of mine who gave into addiction and made it the most important thing in their lives lost friends and family alike. It seemed to bear up and be true. So I believed it.
Even studying addiction for my counseling degree. I believed it was a monster some people had to fight, many times due to the chemical make up of their brains which made them more likely to be addicted.
What if everything we know is wrong?
Wait. What if it isn't. What if we don't understand what we know? Because friends, this man is not telling us anything new. AA and NA work on this premise, don't they? Go to meetings, connect with others. You aren't alone, we accept you and your fight. Get a sponsor so you have a person who you can call day or night if the urges get strong. Connect. Be authentic, be vulnerable. Heal. Heal through community. Be safe in community, keep confidences. Holy, holy, holy cow. This is connection.
XO,
K
