Reader Mail

Apparently I have some readers, because I was DM'd on the Magic Twitter Machine:

"If ur going to write a recovery blog, why you post politics & shit? You should focus on recovery and leave the rants out of it? Recovery is beautiful try to b more positive."

Thank you, dear reader. Perhaps you missed the name plastered across the top of this blog, the first part of which is crabby. A few thoughts:

First, I hate the word recovery. Maybe it's because I've always assumed  recovery has an end-point, like "I broke my leg and now I'm recovering, and when I've recovered I'll be back at work." Except that recovery in this sense doesn't have an end-point, because alcoholism is a chronic "illness." (I have issues with the "illness" model for addiction, too, particularly related to the self-perpetuating nature of "Recovery, Inc., but that's a different post.) Meanwhile, if we could just dispense with the idea that this is a "recovery blog," that would be great.  

Second, I'm not someone who is going to endlessly bleed over my "recovery." Sure, I want to talk about it, but there's nothing more boring and annoying than someone who prattles on & on about "my recovery, my recovery, did I mention my recovery...?" So yeah, I'll pretty much post about anything -- politics, religion, relationships, dogs, dentists, and really anything else that enters my pickled brain. 

Third, has it occurred to you that my random rants and musings may be an important part of my personal recovery process? One of the things I miss most about drinking is that, while drunk, I felt completely free and uninhibited in expressing my views on just about anything, and FUCK what anyone else thought it of it. To some extent, this space is my attempt to replicate that uninhibited feeling, because I'll say things here that I might not say in polite company. 

And finally, about that positivity thing? Look, I know that once we've cast aside the chains of addiction, everything magically gets better, each new day is an opportunity, the problems and toxic feelings melt away and life is wonderful again! YAY SOBRIETY!!! 

But sobering is actually really hard sometimes, too. "Easy does it" isn't always easy, and doesn't always do it. Sorrynotsorry if I'm just crabby enough to say so.