You had me several years ago
When I was still quite naive
Well, you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved
And one of them was me
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee....
Carly Simon
i attended media training for "advocates for recovery" yesterday. there is a crystal meth news program for tv that is currently being filmed in many states across the country. the program is called crystal darkness and is coming to colorado to be filmed later this month. as is normal with most issues and the media, it's the dark side that gets highlighted. reporters almost always want to hear about the horrors of things, and there is no exception with meth use. it is normal for journalists to be curious about the horrors, the abuse of children, the spread of hiv, the upsurge in meth-use related crimes, the ravages of meth labs.
but our job as advocates for recovery, is to take the spotlight off the problem and start to shine it on the solution. after all, people do recover from meth use. injection drug users do stop, and their lives get better. they become better citizens, better family members, and better individuals. this is the message i prefer to send to family members of meth addicts throughout colorado. i would much prefer to promote hope, because there is hope. we are even discussing developing a series of posters entitled "faces of recovery", because it doesn't take long for someone to start looking healthy again.
this is the desired outcome, isn't it?
4 comments:
bravo dear friend! i wholeheartedly support you in this. change the conversation - by highlighting hope and recovery, you GIVE hope to those who would otherwise spiral deeper into despair.
if we know there is hope, will we not look for it, find it and hold on to it?
You have a legitimate cause and valid point. Based on a couple years attending CMA, I have observed that about 1/3 of regular attendees have resumed what would be described as a "normal, productive" life.
Meaning they are gainfully employed, integrated into at least one community (i.e., church, volunteer group, work group, etc.) and they do not struggle daily to refrain from using.
Of course, 2/3 (my guess) are not so well put together, and struggle either to get back on their feet, or to stay sober this very day.
I agree with you that we neglect to look at the success stories, because the horror all around us is so riveting. But it is not the whole story. I am thankful that is the case for me.
Yes!
Yes, yes, yes. We need to shift the framing from focusing on the problem to the solution.
It's just like good AA stories: what it was like, what happened, what it's like now. The message need to be evened out.
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