Working in the field of recovery on a college campus, I run into many people who seem to understand little about addiction. I hear them make comments that can be harmful, naive and just annoying. But we are educators. We work on a college campus after all. And educating someone who may not understand addiction and recovery (which may actually be quite a few people in this world) takes some time and some patience. Hopefully we do our job well and spread that knowledge on an even broader level as we participate in national conferences and conversations taking place that are part of much larger movement toward more education around the truth about addiction and recovery.
Part of the conversation about spreading the hope of recovery and the truth about addiction includes some discussions about anonymity. Individuals in recovery and not in recovery are talking about the appropriate way to share stories of recovery with others. Without getting too involved in the political side of that conversation, I do believe that it is very beneficial to have these stories heard by some means. Without those stories, the world is left with the media and hollywood to portray addiction and recovery. Although sometimes helpful and informative, those may not always be the most reliable sources of knowledge.
In honor of National Recovery Month (September), the KSU Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery has hosted and participated in various events celebrating recovery and sharing facts about addiction. One event is a collaborative project titled "Into the Light" in which participants were asked to make a note or a drawing to remember someone lost to overdose, share hope to someone still struggling with an addiction, share a story of recovery or share a message of encouragement. When this first was initiated, I wasn't sure what the response would be; but it has been overwhelming. So many people related to the purpose of the project and had a story to share. I found myself laughing and crying as I read through all the messages people had written. Some were notes to someone who had passed. Others had found creative ways of sharing hope and inspiration.
I think we do not pay enough attention to the messages we send and receive each day. It's not only important to recognize the messages we might be absorbing every day (negative or positive messages coming from media, peers, ourselves, etc.) but also to counter those messages with truth. If you grew up believing you weren't good enough and still believe it, maybe it's time to ask yourself what put that idea in your head. And are you truly not good enough? At everything? Maybe you haven't done as well as you wanted to with everything you've tried. Everyone else in the future of human beings has also not done as well as they would have liked with everything they tried. Stop defeating yourself with these messages. Start a new message! One of my favorite notes from the "Into the Light" project is "stumbling seven times but recovering eight." It's a simple Japanese proverb speaking to the tough times we face on our journeys, but how we must keep going. If we only focus on failure, we see "seven times I've failed," but we must also look at our success: "eight times I've gotten back up!"
I'm not in recovery. I'm the odd one out in my daily life (kind of always felt that way, so I can relate when others in recovery say the same). But I have gained so much from the messages of recovery. What I have learned from the students that I work with has challenged me and made me a better person. I am constantly hit in the face with how grateful I feel. And right now I'm grateful that others are willing to share their messages. During recovery month, in their communities, at national conferences, at a meeting, and for an art project. The stories really matter. People need messages that are not only true but helpful. People do recover. There is always hope. And you can't do this alone.
Guest Post by Liz Lang, CRC Coordinator
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