Walk With Me
I. The Worker
Walk with me, where the pavement’s cold,
Where dreams collapse, and stories unfold.
I once stood tall with a job and a plan,
The rhythm of life held firm in my hand.
But layoffs came, and the money ran dry,
Now I sleep beneath an indifferent sky.
I don’t belong in this wandering state,
Still chasing a door that opens too late.
II. The Addict
Walk with me, where shadows creep,
Through Lowell’s streets that never sleep.
The needle calls, its whisper sweet,
A fleeting escape from defeat.
I’m tethered here to the city’s veins,
Trading my soul for temporary gains.
This isn’t life, but I’m trapped in its grip,
Homeless, yet bound to a fatal trip.
III. The Wanderer
Walk with me, where the world turns strange,
A mind untethered, wild and deranged.
The walls confine, but the streets are wide,
I choose the freedom the shelters deny.
Voices murmur in the night’s embrace,
Yet here I find my truest space.
Don’t pity me for the life I’ve known;
I prefer the streets—I call them my own.
A Chorus of Three
Walk with us, though our paths diverge,
Through broken dreams and unending urge.
Each story unique, yet bound to this place,
A mirror of struggle, a shared human face.
We wander these streets, unseen and unheard,
Each step a poem, each silence a word. (anonymous).
Building Support Networks
Identity Formation, once autonomy gets re-established, is the neglected ingredient of the addiction remission healing process, imperative to achieve sustainable recovery. Self-governance has become self-defeating during active addiction, a symptom of the disorder. The ARMOR perspective sees this loss of autonomy as the byproduct of external governance imposed on individuals with this disorder. By believing it is a primary survival need, the associated behavior becomes a dysfunctional disorder. An Intermediate Phase of the Addiction Remission Model of Recovery, understood and considered crucial, has become a bridge for getting to the other side and achieving sustainable remission. Of course, without autonomy, one that is free from external oppression, manipulation, and governance, the healing individual appears unable to develop and form their identity within a remission culture. What is your purpose and meaning here with us today?
As children, our relationships and supporting network are what is available at that time, only. Until we age into reason and autonomy, our ability to choose for ourselves is null and void. If raised into a culture living off the land, we’d role model those elders and design our autonomy as such and then work out our identity. If raised in a concrete jungle, those community elders become our role models. So, how does one discern who to role model, who to allow as our teachers, coaches, and mentors, or trust as directors?
Innocence
A child is born without words.
But there are still;
thoughts, questions, feelings, reactions.
“What just happened?”
“Where am I?”
“This is scary.”
“Something hurts!”
“I want to go back.”
Time passes ...
Adults begin to program the child, with;
language, religion, rules, alliances.
“Don’t listen to them.”
“Why?”
“They are evil!”
“Why?”
“Just do as I say!”
And yet, some wonders remain;
the stars, clouds, wind, rain, snow, animals, plants, bugs.
Time passes …
The teenage years create confusions;
physical, hormonal, intellectual, emotional.
“Who am I?”
“What am I?”
“What do I want to be?”
“Where am I going?”
Some are overwhelmed, and they;
drink, do drugs, fight, steal, hurt.
Time passes …
Adulthood arrives, and for many, more troubles;
marriage, parenthood, divorce, drinking, drugs.
“What have I done?”
“Where am I going?”
“Who am I?”
“I want to go back!”
Innocence is lost, but some time still remains.
There is time to change!
Richard Ebner
Once we start being who everyone else wants us to be – like mom, dad, siblings, friends, coworkers, teachers, professors, doctors, whomever – we lose ourselves. What about who we want to be? We must include a quote here, thank you Riverbend director: “Everything we do here is to convey the value and the immeasurable potential and the goodness within every individual, regardless of substance use, mental health, homelessness, criminal justice involvement,” said Riverbend Director of Recovery Support Services Richard Hollett. “We meet them where they’re at while knowing and upholding their potential to help them come to actualize their potential.” This is an excellent example of administration of Affirmation in our curriculums. It invites guests and visitors to regain some autonomy and welcomes authentic Identity Formation. Located in the Sun
The concept of establishing a support network, or participating in a goal-orientated social group, is essential, according to Doc. Achieving any desired outcome, goal, or skill is motivated by confirmation and acceptance of its worthiness by others. This relates to our ideology behind Affirmation, the first element of an ARMOR Program, especially group Affirmation. This is an essential component for teaching anybody anything. If you want to teach that’s one thing, if you want your student to learn what you’re teaching, that’s another thing, entirely. Hundreds of clients have educated us beyond academia, beyond family culture, and beyond dysfunctional world views. Those things gleaned during childhood experiences from inside and outside our family system may or may not be as accurate as once considered, they may even be propagated slavery. Maybe Finland is on to something with the housing first paradigm!
I just had to borrow the following from: Christman, John, "Autonomy in Moral and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
Another relational element to autonomy that has been developed connects social support and recognition of the person’s status to her capacities for self-trust, self-esteem, and self-respect. The core argument in these approaches is that autonomy requires the ability to act effectively on one’s own values (either as an individual or member of a social group), but that oppressive social conditions of various kinds threaten those abilities by removing one’s sense of self-confidence required for effective agency. Social recognition and/or support for this self-trusting status is required for the full enjoyment of these abilities (see Anderson and Honneth 2005, Grovier 1993, Benson 2005, McCleod and Sherwin 2005, and Westlund 2014).