I imagine addiction being something we truly love, but feel uneasy about. Are the things we all love, like television, Internet and smartphones all secretly something we are afraid of being judged by? We hear our phones buzz and can’t control the impulse to pick it up. There is an obsessive need to feel connected to something. We need to know if someone likes something imminently so we can be affected by the result. We get our validation from tiny microchips. We all hate the idea of aging to much we cringe at wrinkles, and see the lines on our faces as nothing but negative. A shot of Botox could make it all go away. There lies the compulsive addiction.
We live in an age of addiction. It is a time of hopeless desire to fill a void, mixed with an overdeveloped sense of overconsumption. In other words, addicts are everywhere. We all point and laugh at the drunks stumbling around in bars, and quickly identify the drugged up wanderer in the streets. Meanwhile, we hear about that aunt we know who has way too much wine at family functions, or about that kid in the neighborhood who hits a bong in his community tree house. Then there’s the girl we heard about who limits her food intake and is always exercising or the father who is hitting strip clubs and meeting with women in parking lots, while his family is at home. Addiction has now invaded our immediate family and our close circle. This is pure addiction we all talk about at the dinner table, or whisper about at school. We can all express our wise opinions about it and maybe in some cases try and help, but these are addicts on display, and we all know them.
Society has a true profile to most addicts; however, we frequently forget to question whether or not we ourselves are addicts. Similar to most psychological questionings displayed in society. You could be completely unaware of your addictive tendencies, or you could just brush them off completely. Each of us posses the same need for alcoholic binges, restrictive eating patterns or experimental sex. So yes, addiction is brewing inside you, no matter how far your soul has developed. It rests in your psyche and binds you all together with all the other addicted human beings in the world.
So we applaud the victim of addiction who is in the state of recovering, without realizing that addiction is something that nurtures and caresses the soul. Addiction steams in mysterious waves like anger, or addiction to sadness. Some people truly can’t help themselves because darkness serves such a purpose. Some people are addicted to misery. They are much more comfortable when things are falling apart. Perhaps they were born that way. Some people’s love is fashioned by discomfort. Some can’t shake the pain of their past. They are addicted to the aging images of the past. The link between addiction and unresolved pain is stronger than any psyche. We all know that this doesn’t necessarily mean a catastrophic event, rather a child who was neglected, abandoned or overlooked. Maybe they never felt loved or truly supported. Feelings are stored in the young, and often turn into beliefs. This doesn’t always create addiction, but it is always a part of the energy surrounding it. Addiction is inside you just as it is in me. It has always been here and it will always remain. It is nothing to fear, or nothing to shame, as it is in your nature.
It makes us feel good to know that we all have something that doesn’t really make us feel good about ourselves. It could be the only way to really allow each other to see that no person is perfect and has complete self-control. It’s all a love affair gone wrong. When you go out, you are dependent on that shot to make you feel confident. It makes you forget about how socially insecure you feel, or how hard it is to accept that you are engaged in a cycle of obsessive feeling.
The truth is, addiction serves no one well. It cuts too deep to the psychologies and substances that one should simply not be doing. It seems that we all may be underestimating addiction, when truthfully; it is a matter of life or death. Look around and you won’t feel so alone, because addiction is everywhere. It is swept under the rug to preserve more frequent social demand.
Until it is acknowledged, the addiction will continue to grow. Every storm ends at one point, you just can’t control when. You could be in rehab of quietly dealing with it in your bedroom, but there is only one real solution. Accept its existence and offer your affinity. This isn’t easy, but it is goodwill. How could anyone befriend something that is so debilitating and selfish? The answer is just understanding human nature. The things we despise and resent are the things that fuel strength and build our identities. Kindness and compassion hold the ability to diffusive negativity. Stop judging those people in the allies, or throwing up at parties. Addiction is a part of each of us, and it should be embraced as one of our many colorful qualities. When you can learn to love an aspect of something so unattractive, we can finally begin to heal. It always loving energy that heals wounds and mends things that need fixing.
Sources: Carder Stout, PhD
