Addiction

The below story from an anonymous writer is one of those stories that we read about far too seldom.

Drug addiction is monstrous, and I find that food addiction may come from the same place way down deep.

Addiction is in fact a big green monster buried deep within each of us. And maybe this metaphor is a little too colorful for the problematic reference to a Freudian unconscious state or the hypnotic trance states. In any case, as a metaphor it helps to explain that place in human consciousness that psychoanalysts have long suspected exists deep down. (And no, Skinner would not agree with any of this.)

So long as we keep it in check, we can manage in our world of temptations. Once loose, the temptations become trading posts between the green monster and the inner-most parts of our Being. Day by day we lose our reason to the green monster of addiction. We become a creature caught between pain and pleasure as the addiction monster trades pleasure for pieces of our humanness. We willingly and reluctantly sell-off our reason for swift moments of satiation.

"I have a website, wwwxyzanonymous.com, that I set up about a year ago. It is a lot of fun. I put it together, decided on which products to sell, do all of the advertising and contacting, and I love it! I never thought I would be able to do it. I was a meth addict for 16 years. I have been clean for 6 years (7 on September 25) and there was a time that I couldn't remember how many $1 bills to take back when I put a $5 in the collection plate at meetings. It was scary! Turns out I still have a brain cell or two left.

Since I got clean I went to school and got my AA degree and finished a medical records office assistant course. I got a couple of certificates, one in coding and one in transcription, and I chose transcription as a career. That's my "day job", even though I work swing shift. The website is growing slowly, which is how I want it right now. Although it is my passion, it is definitely not my main source of income. Yet. Someday I will take some business classes, probably set up another site or two, and hopefully grow a good retirement! That is the plan, anyway."

So here we have a success story in the Reason's counter-attack on addiction. There is something about humanity that deserves that second, even third chance. Because addiction is so powerful, proof is right outside the door, I'll do my part for combating the green monster wherever it appears, even inside me.

Eddie Evans
Crime Scene Cleanup