‘Child Of’, The Introduction to Art
So that brings me back to Child Of :- I got the bug after our first group, it was not a therapy group more one of expression,
So my first picture and not a member of the Wind Family :- Hands do and say so Much
New hands
Yes hands as simple as ABC but rewarding when I managed to finish this one, it’s basically a sort of up yours, not to you but to my addiction, my first realisation I could actually do well in this journey. I have always found it difficult to talk about stuff like how I felt, my emotions and that sort of thing. Sam was so enthusiastic so I had a go, been years since I picked up a pencil to draw, scribble or doodle.
Our long term goal in the art group was to do a self-portrait of things that actually meant something. A self-portrait . Well that will be coming later. Each stage I documented, it’s a bit like the process of being in rehab.
What is an addict (in my case alcohol) do you see them on park benches, in doorways or do you not look, or more to the point you look but you just don’t see ? I did that for years ignoring the fact that I am that person.
Statistics say if you have 2 may be 3 alcoholic drinks or more a day you could have a problem. But I’m not here to judge on peoples drinks consumption.
I met people I would never ever have met in my circle of friends and family. Injectors, snorters, smokers, drinkers of everything and anything. People who have been in prison longer that they have been out. People who were physically abused and horribly treated all their early life and have taken those scars, traumas with them, looking, craving, needing help, in a society that so far has let them down. These abused people didn’t ask to be born all they wanted in those early days was love, peace and proper guidance and support. Even now, many just want help but society, the bureaucracy and lack of funds, etc means many won’t get it.
The tree of life :- This depicts dreams and reality
Tree of Life
I thought long and hard for something I could do to give something back, I will help with my drawings, my words and a knowledge that I belong to a not so exclusive club that everybody can join if you use enough. A club that I really wish I hadn’t joined.
Drowning in my addiction :-This picture shows just a few addictions we can share with lots of other people.
Drowning in my Addiction
Are we all brain washed into doing it :- Just watch TV or read a Magazine ?
Properganda
The faceless person being absorbed by a newspaper they are reading, the television advertisement, the posters all pushing us towards using more.
The highs and lows that we all had and continue to have in and out of rehab are fundamental in our recovery. Our friends and family need time to trust us again, sometimes it will be too much for them to accept you’re back and a none-user.
You have been given a chance to re-join society, families and friends. I am 65, and still here, I can’t even guess how many people died before they reached my age who weren’t an addict. We the user put our families and friends through hell as they see us destroy ourselves because we are addicted.
As I said it took years for me to realise, come to terms that I needed help, help that wasn’t in a bottle so I chose therapy and art. So through the art classes and therapy I got my awareness that only good can come out of my stay in rehab.
I am going to do my best to achieve something with my art to show a picture, tell a story, that I think might just help someone who is the same situation as me or my family and through Child Of, I will.
The art helped me, so It’s payback time :-
New Life
This is called circle of life, I’m slivering up a glass of beer, then me as a chrysalis, then into the butterfly free from my addiction, yes I know I will always have the addict in me but it will be a great start to a new life.
See You Next Time.