I never quit smoking and I don’t smoke anymore. What I did was start mindfully smoking. I started to feel every bit of the smoking process — both the deliciousness and the toxicity of the smoke as it entered my mouth, into my lungs tingle in all my cells. I smoked every cigarette like it… Continue Reading →
When I finally quit smoking (many years ago now) I had started what I called “mindfully” smoking. Being with every breath – feeling what it felt like in my body. We can employ such mindfulness with a lot of compulsive behaviors. To be with ourselves as we do something that maybe we don’t really *want*… Continue Reading →
Addiction is a societal issue. Consumerism and capitalism is dependent on the addict in everyone. Recognizing this fundamental issue with our society is part of a much deeper social commentary that this speaks to. Gabor Mate, Marion Woodman and others speak to this expertly if you’d like to do further research. Our society needs healing, it’s not just particular individuals who need to heal. We are all connected. Inextricably so. This argument can be true and we can also note real differences in how people use drugs. There is no argument there on my part. Language is inherently imprecise and context must always be considered.
By Richard Lewis — As the benzodiazepine crisis spreads throughout the United States and other parts of the world so does the debate within the benzo victim/survivor community about important definitions of key medical terms and about safe and successful paths to healing and recovery. Does “iatrogenic benzo dependence” and “addiction” represent completely separate medical and social phenomena? If they are to have distinctly different scientific definitions, can they also (at the same time) intersect in multiple ways in people’s actual real life experience? And what is the medical and social significance of exploring these concepts and seeking unity of understanding and purpose? Before delving into the content of this debate let’s briefly review the social context from which this “Benzo Divide” has emerged.
For me addiction is about having trouble letting go of ANYTHING that has ever been helpful. That includes people, food, experiences, substances of all kinds etc. I have no conventionally understood addictions right now, but I am deeply resonant with the concept of addiction. Our consumer oriented culture teaches us to cling to everything. Healing for me is learning to stop clinging. Completely. …
Professor Alexander argues this discovery is a profound challenge both to the right-wing view that addiction is a moral failing caused by too much hedonistic partying, and the liberal view that addiction is a disease taking place in a chemically hijacked brain. In fact, he argues, addiction is an adaptation. It’s not you. It’s your cage. …
Another great opportunity! Click on title for details.
I’m reblogging my own post because I want to share it even more widely. This post has been going viral lately. It’s not a new post. It’s a post from December. But it’s been getting hundreds of hits daily. This is very exciting since it’s a sort of critical and fundamental way to understand the ills of not only the individual but of society too. Please continue passing it on. The fact that this sort of information is getting more and more accessible and that people are sharing it broadly warms my heart. Thanks to all of you who help pass on these critical insights and understandings.
We don’t offer a quick fix. That is what many of us were trying to do when we first distracted ourselves from unpleasant mental states or experiences. We self medicated, gave ourselves misguided kindness and compassion, to help take care of difficult things happening in our lives. And why not ? You may ask. Well quick fixes, are like band aids that fall off minutes later. Quick fixes perpetuate the vicious cycle of addiction. Why? Because while we may be momentarily relieved from our suffering, guarantee the unpleasant mental states we have been avoiding, will emerge again. Guarantee the craving for a better experience, or more pleasant mental states will emerge again. And when they do we will be reaching for that same or similar quick fix. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
I don’t see addiction as an illness. But some of the things we choose as an addiction are far more physically and emotionally destructive than others. I also don’t see addiction as limited to drug use. I see addiction as the way that we live. It is, a necessity, at this stage of living. But only because we have not fully grasped that the way that we are living, forces us into lives of distraction. I feel that most of us have this reversed. The prevailing presumption is that our lives of distraction drive us to ignore the things around us. When really there is so much damage done to the paradise of nature and the sense of community and connection…that distraction is just about the final frontier for us to not go insane from the realization of just how dire things are here and now. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Everything Matters 