Weekly round up and blog of the week, 17th January 2010

Well I have to say that this has been a really good week in the Wired In community with some amazing entries and really insightful comments. A good reason to pat ourselves on our virtual backs I feel. I know that size doesn’t matter (!) but it feels good to see lots of blogs and lots of new people. No disrespect to Wired In veterans – you are the bedrock of the community and have made Wired In what it is.

I often bang on about the value of personal stories and there have been some particularly fine ones in the last seven days. What I find immensely interesting is that although peopIe’s backgrounds and experiences in active addiction are quite diverse, they seem to converge again in recovery. How powerful is that?

Jed tells us how his love affair with DF118’s turned into a nightmare and then into a wholly new direction while Sharon describes life on a script before treatment and then being ‘loved back to life’ by her family and NA. Keiran and Devil’s Advocate talk about the impact of mental health problems and the added dimensions this imposes on people in recovery.

For those of you who may have missed their personal stories on the blog pages, entries from Benx, Brian and Carl – parts one and two – can now be found in the personal stories section, It would be great to be writing about some more stories next week so have a think about your own experiences and how valuable sharing them can be to others.

Struggling with the day-to-day realities of recovery is something that is pretty damn tough. This can be at the beginning of the journey, like Keiran and Claire, or later on down the line, like Mark, when the practicalities of living life start to bite. But as Brian says “stay strong people, it’s all there for the taking, and it’s all yours.”

And if you are still thinking that life is hard, then you are right! But simply accepting that, and going with whatever it throws at you, can help a great deal as Androcles – with a little bit of help from Amazon – points out.

It is always a pleasure to welcome new members to the community and great when they are bringing a new perspective. Melody asked herself whether young people’s workers can contribute to emerging recovery debates and, luckily for us, her answer was yes We look forward to hearing more and learning from their approaches. Doubly good is that Eleanor, a family/parent worker has also joined us. And then, well if anyone has any doubts about why this site is important, check out what happened next in Ann Marie’s subsequent blog.

Martin not only writes an insightful blog of introduction but proves so be a gem in terms of commenting. So a new award this week, to add to the fictional array that I have at my disposal, is the ‘Smokin’ Keyboard’.

Welcomes are good but welcome backs are very nice too. I know you haven’t been gone for long but Tony and Strut – you have been missed.

Minding your language was a bit of a theme last week and lo and behold the experts have followed our lead and realised that ‘Changing the words used to describe someone struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction may significantly alter the attitudes of health care professionals, even those who specialise in addiction treatment’ [Medical News Today, UK]. Do keep up experts – we are well ahead of you. Thanks to Sarah for highlighting this article.

I’ve also been interested in the tension between change on the one hand and the same old, same old on the other. Wulf talks about culture clash and how things that are nibbling away at the system are starting to come together (obviously cokehead mice – see David’s blog for an explanation!).

Then you read Dylan’s blog on how the New South Wales Department of Health has come under fire for producing a leaflet called ‘Drug Safety – Guide to a Better Night’ or Matthew’s entry on risk and you feel like hanging up your spurs and taking up gardening.

But then you read about R.I.O.T’s (Recovery Is Out There) recovery champions going out into the community as walking, talking examples of recovery and Marcello’s blog on the amazing and innovative TAPE and you are right back in the saddle again, pruning shears consigned to the dark recesses of the garden shed.

It certainly is a roller-coaster ride but we probably wouldn’t have it any other way. And if your emotions have been see-sawing between hope and despair, Wired In’s very own ‘Mr. Really Difficult Question’ (yes, Graham, that’s you!) causes an outbreak of thought ping-pong by asking for whom? and would you rather?. Exhausting!

The sad loss of Ann Marie’s son has given her an insight into the value of being still and she shares the extremely good news that the costs of her son’s funeral have been covered. And Linda underlines why resolving family issues is just as important and stopping misusing substances.

Matthew finds himself worryingly close to an attitude of personal responsibility and Chris, while feeling sad about the selfishness of others, does not lose his temper!

I hope you managed to have a look at some of the events and conferences that are in the pipeline and read Ann Marie’s update on the National Recovery Walk planning meeting that is taking place next Friday (22nd January). Sarah and I will be there and also at the Inexcess Television interactive event on the 28th. So we look forward to seeing some of you at one or both of these.

Wired In continues to work on securing funds and a big thank you to Newham PCT and Wirral DAAT for supporting this community. It may be that the wealth of experience, knowledge, expertise, empathy and support (need I go on?) encapsulated within the Wired In community is too heady a draught for some funders. Or it could be that the nuts and bolts of recovery are simply not sexy enough. I would very much value any thoughts on PeaPod’s blog.

So as we draw nearer to the end of another week on the non-singing, non-dancing, minus bells and whistles community website that is Wired In having had a chance to listen and learn from the authentic voices of recovery – I come to that moment that makes the Oscar’s look like a platform for a load of hysterics with identity issues. Come to think of it…..

But before I announce the Nobel Prize of the recovery world I need to remind you that you need to be in to win it, so I suggest you click on this link if you are having first blog wobbles, I hope that this will help.

Ta-da-da-da-da-da (not enough money to provide real sound effects – I will stop now) and the winner is – well it’s a four-way tie. Not because I am indecisive, but because they somehow go together, even though the starting points and journeys are so different. So welcome to the blog of the week Hall of Fame to Keiran, Devil’s Advocate, Jed and Sharon. Well deserved I am sure you will agree.

Until next time….

Onwards and upwards

Michaela