MARK
“Our stories are powerful. And to whom much is given, much is required.”
I am not anonymous.
The 12-step program that keeps me clean and sober is.
And for the first 8 years of my recovery, I was not open about it in any public way. I began a blog in January because I had too much to keep in. I was writing volumes of stuff - poetry, stories, reflections on life, and it collected dust on my bookshelves, it took up space on my hard drive.
I talked with my sponsor in the process. I called my program’s central office, I read the latest literature on web anonymity protocol. I did my research because I have a profound respect for the process that keeps me sober - still do.
Here’s the black-and-white, the cut-and-dry of what I’ve found. This is what allows me to respect those who have shown me the way to stay clean and sober.
A) I remain anonymous by name and image.
OR
B) I remain anonymous in the 12-step program I work.
As you can tell, I chose option B. I don’t go broadcasting to the world about my recovery program, but I tell the world that I am in recovery. In the six months that I have declared who I am publicly, amazing things have happened.
I’ve met incredible people, many of whom are here getting their portrait taken with me today. I would not have met them if I remained anonymous.
If I remained anonymous, I wouldn’t have met someone via Facebook who lives in a place where there are no recovery meetings to attend. If I remained anonymous, I would not have lead him through the steps.
It’s a marvelous world we live in—a dizzying one. It’s the sort of world that tells you to split your identity—piece and parcel across one social media platform to the next. It’s a sort of world that demands insincerity, that asks you to look the part without having to play it.
The day I entered into the public arena—through my website and social media—as one man, my life changed. I spoke with my boss. I let him know that before he hired me, I was committed to a psychiatric facility, that I underwent a drug-induced psychosis. Rather than look down on me, he asked if I were willing to speak to our student body about it.
“When the world changes, we must change with it.”
Our stories are powerful. And to whom much is given, much is required. I have been given everything in my life as a clean and sober man. I’ve been given the gift to write, the gift to teach, the gift of a wife and two children. I’ve been given stability. I’ve been given power. And the only way to keep it, is to give it away. And that, my friends, is the great spiritual axiom that is true across all recovery practices. Connect. Unite. Give it away.
I am not anonymous.
The 12-step program that keeps me clean and sober is.
When the world changes, we must change with it. And once changed, we realize that all we thought was complex, all that we thought was dizzying is sublime in its simplicity.
We are people helping people.
We are power.
We are light.
