A Brief Story of What Brought Me Right Here.
It’s been a long tough road, but I’m still standing. Five years ago I was hit hard when COVID-19 rocked the world. The isolation, and the loneliness that came along with it, put me in a deep depression. With the lack of human contact I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the despondency. Over the following years I failed over and over again struggling to pick myself up. It wasn’t until 2022 when I accepted my humility and reached out for help.
On December 6th 2022, I checked myself into the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community. Little did I know at the time, this was the start of the most challenging and life changing experience of my life. During the nine month program I worked hard meeting all of the requirements, including taking on a leadership role for seven months. When nearing the end of the program I was able to return to my position at Peninsula Signs—more details of this job later on.
In August of 2023, I graduated the program and moved into the Jaymac second stage house. I continued to work at Peninsula Signs while living at Jaymac over another nine months. After that time I felt I was ready to move on. I quickly acquired a bachelor suite in the beautiful small town of Sidney. Finally my life was on track and things were wonderful, however I quickly found myself isolated living in Sidney. Loneliness, depression and boredom would creep back into my life.
Again, I found comfort in the numbing affect of alcohol. Over several months I walked that tightrope of alcoholism, struggling to keep my balance. Eventually, with the new found self-awareness I acquired at New Roads, I saw the inevitable coming. With much shame, guilt, uncertainty and being outright terrified, I knew that I would need to give up everything I’ve worked so hard for. I reached out to my New Roads family asking for their support. The community quickly responded and I was fast tracked back, welcomed with open arms. I was so grateful, even as I type this I get emotional.
Once I was back at New Roads I made a commitment to the community that I will share my lessons learned and go deep into the underlying issues of my addictive behaviours. This time I took on more leadership responsibilities as the Orientation Coordinator. In this role I was responsible for welcoming and helping new residents settle into the community, and had the privilege of giving tours to board members and other officials that help fund the program at New Roads. Further to that, I have taken on facilitator responsibilities for the weekly SMART Recovery meetings.
So, why am I here? Why am I sharing my story? Why this website?
The best way I can explain this is through a quote I came across a few years ago:
"...You have to write for yourself first of all,
And then if it happens to be relevant for other people too,
Why, that’s wonderful!"
I discovered this quote at the beginning of a song titled, “Antihero” by Technimatic, and it’s become significant mantra in my life of recovery.