People have creativity they never knew they had. And, that’s a really fun thing to discover in recovery.
I was constantly miserable. I had started to use to kill the fear and to kill the discomfort I felt in my life. But it wasn’t a surgical killer, so it killed all my joy and it killed my peace. There came a point in time where I knew that I didn’t want to live that way anymore. My addiction affected my family deeply. I took them hostage emotionally.
I went to treatment when I was fifteen years old and when I made the decision to go into treatment a second time at thirty, I was terrified. There were parts of me that wanted to go and parts of me that didn’t. But, what really mattered was just putting one foot in front of the other and showing up for it.
I have been in recovery for a little over six years now. Recovery has improved my life in every way. My relationships are really rich and full and our family dynamics and communication are so much better. I have boundaries today. I can show up in my life and be present for everything — for the good, the bad, and the everyday stuff.
For continuing support in my recovery, I attend meetings. I have a sponsor. I’m really involved in the recovering community. I have a support network of people who are on the same path as me. I also have a lot of support within my family.
In my past job, people would come to me for solutions to problems. They just thought I was a really good problem solver. They didn’t know these were skills I learned in my recovery.
Now, I’m a Residential Technician at Rimrock and my recovery is extremely valuable to what I do. I’m with our clients every day. I’m on the floor with them. I’m with them on weekends, taking them on outings. In early recovery as they are just getting started on this path, moments come up that are scary and uncomfortable and clients don’t really know how to deal with those situations. My recovery is there for me to lean on to know what it is that they are going through. I understand that. I understand what withdrawals are like. I understand what the fear is like. I understand those things deeply.
We take patients out to do things they’ve maybe never done before or never done sober. Sometimes it’s scary. Sometimes it’s thrilling. We try to expose them to things they’ll be able to do in recovery. They get to learn new things and do things they never thought possible. They get to do things they will be able to continue doing with their families and their children. We bring a lot of different experiences into the recreation process so that they can try things that may become hobbies and loves of theirs.
Creativity is really beneficial in recovery because the process of addiction shuts certain areas of the brain down and therapeutic art can help pull that up. I love art and I really love working with our clients to help them get involved in creating something that didn’t exist before and pushing their minds to work in new ways. I think a lot of people have creativity they never knew they had. And, that’s a really fun thing to discover in recovery.
Recovery is hard – especially early recovery. I remember my early recovery thinking that whatever was happening in that moment was going to last forever. You need a team of people that really care and are really committed to helping you navigate that early recovery time. The choice to go to treatment can feel terrifying. But that’s okay, because recovery is beautiful and a life opens up that you had never imagined. When people are struggling, I stand with them and let them know that this moment passes. I remind them its okay to not be okay sometimes.
You may regret continuing to use. You likely won’t regret getting clean. It’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to have slip ups and it’s okay to feel scared. The important thing is always to start where we are and move forward from there. And, treatment is a beautiful way to begin that process.
For me, Rimrock is Recovery.
