The Sunday round up, 7th March 2010

I have spent much of this morning lurking around my flat in a deerstalker hat, magnifying glass in hand,my trusty hound (not of the Baskervilles, he’s mine) by my side searching for my missing muse. I had it last week, I may well have had it the week before, but today my muse has gone AWOL.

But hang on a minute, as I scan through last week’s blogs I see a clue emerging. Far from leaving me for a better paid (or paid) job on a glossy magazine my muse has been, well, knicked. Now I have all of you gathered in front of the screen together I will set the evidence in front of you all. Yes, I realise this is more Poirot than Sherlock but give a museless girl a break.

My first suspect is Androcles who, under the guise of bringing much needed culture to the site (a slur that has been noted sir, we had Forrest Gump last week, what more do you want?), encouraged many to wax-lyrical. Including a certain Mark Gilman, who waxed twice – very suspicious.

Or could it be Jac who along with her merry band of choristers (a cunning disguise or my names not Hercule) has been spreading musical muse in rehabs across the UK? And then there is Ann Marie bringing us Lady Heroin – her second poetic entry I notice – and even one of our newest bloggers, Kato inciting people to commit rhyme!

Now as this is a first offence for many of you – although Mr.G is straying close to the three times and your out rule – I will turn a blind eye. But any repeat of this behaviour will be dealt with severely.

From muse to musings, and many of us have been ruminating on just what Recovery means in practice – and in particular for those who work with, and for, people on their Recovery journey – which may in itself be a point of debate. But I digress,

However, if I were of a Fox Mulderish persuasion (rather than the cool level headed Scully-type) I would be suspicious that a number of people from areas as far flung and diverse as Australia, North Wales,Tameside, somewhere foresty and someone with intermittment broadband all just happened to blog on roughly the same subject. Spooky.

David found an “excellent description” of the role of the treatment professional which highlights the challenge of assessing what represents growth and what represents a difficulty that requires intervention. While Matthew looked at new roles in recovery support, introduced (to me anyway) the term ‘peer specialist’ and asked how we go about creating recovery enhancing environments.

Peter suggests the need for a change in perceptions (extra-sensory – stop it!) and attitude, Melody sparks a sparky discussion on a potentially sensitive subject and Geph is party to both sides of a conversation. Ollie is also wondering whether something might be missing. In this case it is a slice of the Recovery cake for those in shared care.

And some of our community would like to interrogate you on your experiences. Allen is investigating heroin and tolerance and Alison123 is looking for individuals to aid and abet her research on methadone maintenance. Meanwhile Cliffy is mystified by the ‘science’ of drugs.

Carl wondered a while back whether the loss of the family silver might be a professional job (!) but Tom Hovarth assures us that SMART will not be kidnapped.

Now, if my muse’s unexplained absence and missing slices of cake weren’t enough to convince you that something fishy is going on then how do you explain the fact that the word Recovery seems to be largely absent from the recent report on young people’s drug and alcohol treatment and does it have a decent alibi? Perhaps it was hanging around on Wired In at the time along with mutual aid groups, which also appear to be lost in action in the recent NTA document on powder cocaine. PeaPod is bemused and our commentators wonder how the data stacks up.

Gareth (he of the cat in the washing machine – a criminal act if ever I saw one) finds someone has syphoned the moisture from Welsh Assembly consultation paper on Integrated Care Pathways and raises concerns about information sharing.

But just when you thought that taking without owners consent had become pervasive, John shows us a creative way to provide support that is missing and the Scottish Drug Recovery Consortium has gone live. Inspiring many of us to relocate our tenuous links to Scotland!

Mark finds trust in NA which opens up a path that may lead him back into the DIP – but in a different capacity and Halyz is picking up knowledge and strength as she steps out on the long road to recovery. And I really feel I gained a great deal from a couple of sentences from A long road: part 3, “Instead of getting a bag I bought a cardigan at seven pounds and put three quid in an AIDS charity box. Wearing my ribbon with pride – with pride also that I didn’t give in.”

Losing and gaining. Tough balance there. Loss has been a theme on Wired In recently and the impact of losing a loved one is something I feel I am learning a great deal about. So my thanks again to all of you who have shared your feelings through your blogs and comments. It does make a difference.

Keith considers the role that events in Perry’s childhood may have played in his problems with drugs and alcohol but at the same time shows us the great love he had, and has, for his son. Sue marks the end of the month with some difficult emotions and resolves to make plans for some changes in her life. Like many of us on a recovery journey, Sue finds herself stuck, while at the same time recognising the need to slow down.

To say that sounds familiar could seem insensitive as each person’s journey is different, but I am sure that many of us can relate to the feeling of going nowhere fast and it is only when we look back we can see how far we have come.

I will leave you to your Sunday with news of events. Don’t forget that there is a briefing at the Basement Project on 10th March and then on 7th May the UKRF conference in Tameside. The UKRF will be updating you on the programme very soon but I have to say I am pretty excited. Do book now to avoid disappointment by e-mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) as places are going like hot cakes.

And while you are at it remember, remember the 25th of September. Be there,or most definitely be square.

Until the next time, over to Paps for a thought for the week: “Surely it can’t be that difficult to say something positive about somebody. I mean, how much do words actually cost?”

And as the old geezer in ‘Hill Street Blues’ says, “Hey, be careful out there….”

p.s. onwards and upwards!