Clean and Sober reminders and keepsakes. From one Fellow to another
I went back home to my hometown recently after quite some time to visit my aging mom. Going back home is always an emotional journey for me and although I look forward to visiting, I still can’t help but be filled with some dread about revisiting the place where I grew up and remembering what it was like growing up with alcoholism. It was only a decade ago that I used to visit my parents with plenty of drugs in tow that I managed so foolishly to hide in my…
Read MoreMarijuana has become the most widely consumed illegal drug in the world. Since 1990, marijuana usage has doubled in the US and Canada. Today’s marijuana is so potent that the United Nations has considered reclassifying it as a different drug from the 1960’s counterpart. Although there is still a perceived notion that pot it is relatively benign, it is far from being a soft drug. The main reason is that today’s marijuana has been re-engineered to produce a high level of Tetra Hydro-Cannabinol or THC, its active ingredient. The levels…
Read MoreI came across this website I would like share with you. The site belongs to musician Brad Mersereau. He has devoted it to his sister Laura’s memory who sadly did not find her way to recovery and died at 46 from alcoholism. It is a very powerful reminder that addiction in itself is a form of insanity, it affects our loved ones profoundly, destroys lives and that some of us won’t make it to sobriety. The following is an excerpt from his site, one of a series of very poignant…
Read MoreIt seems like everyone is talking about sex addiction these days. This whole Tiger Woods scandal has put sex addition into the spotlight recently. I recently read an article in the Los Angeles Times about whether sex addiction is a real disorder or disease like drug or alcohol addiction. The article argues whether extreme sexual acting out is an obsessive-compulsive disorder, a sign of depression or simply nasty behavior. I’m sure the same thing was said at one time in history about gambling addiction and for that matter drug or…
Read MoreThanksgiving is a special time but for me, it marks another year of sobriety. I now have eight years of continued sobriety. During those years, I have experienced the same disappointments and achievements in life as I always have but the difference is that I was able to handle life on life’s terms– just using my instincts, some common sense and I hope, good judgment. It’s been a tough yet wonderfully liberating experience. One thing that I found a bit of challenge is dealing with friends and family regarding sobriety. …
Read MoreWe are a prescription drug society. Not a day will pass when we will see an advertisement describing some medical condition and the pill that will help it. An astonishing amount of advertising about insomnia has surfaced within the last few years. It is estimated that one of out of six people over the age of 15 has problems falling or staying asleep. My co-worker has been taking as he describes a “tiny dose” of Clonazepam because he experiences “middle-of-the-night” insomnia. He wakes up every morning at 2 am and…
Read MoreWhen I was using, sometimes I felt like I was living in solitary confinement. My addiction was my incarceration–a lonely, frightening and lifeless jail of my own doing. Now that I’m clean and sober there is a whole dimension of solitude I’ve learned to embrace rather than fear. During my first year of sobriety, dealing with solitude was difficult. Like many others entering recovering, I had to let go of friends who used and using patterns I had developed that were social. Although I had developed other social networks with…
Read MoreI just wrote an essay on why sobriety anniversaries are so important. Check it out at http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Importance-of-the-Sobriety-Annivers
Read MoreIt’s a rainy, foggy day and although I like the rain, today’s rain is reflecting my dark and somber mood. I had all these plans to be productive today but somehow I let my mood take over, simply relenting to the dark side. The problems in life overshadowing my plans, poor me. In my using days, these kinds of days really lent themselves to being stoned. I felt crappy so I got high. It would make me feel better, an instant bliss until it wore off and I’d get high…
Read MoreWe’ve heard it before that people in recovery have it especially hard during the holidays. Everything from bad memories associated with drinking/using, to seeing loved ones out of control, to having to resist those urges to partake in a little holiday cheer like the rest of society. The holidays are the ultimate test of the addict/alcoholic’s commitment to sobriety. I personally don’t like the holidays much. I’m not a very christmasy person, not being traditional makes me feel bad, not giving in to the mass-consumerism makes me feel guilty and not…
Read More