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Learning, Healing & Grieving at the SHARE! Festival of Recovery Marathon
I wasn’t sure what to expect at the Festival of Recovery Marathon May 22-24, 2020. I had never been to a meeting marathon online– Who would come? How would it work?
Two words to describe it, for me, were inspired and customized. Some folks attended from where we are located, in Los Angeles. Others came from Australia, Sweden, Ireland, etc. Overall, what I witnessed is people being grateful to groups, recovery, connection and people hungry for healing that they may not have had access to in their own location. Over the course of three days on Zoom, there were 320 people who participated in more than 30 meetings which is pretty amazing in itself.
I learned something from every single meeting that I didn’t know before, every single one. However, the program that I would like to comment on specifically is Dual Diagnosis Anonymous. I had pre-conceived notions on what this fellowship “meant” – I guess I thought “Dual Diagnosis” meant that you had to have been “officially diagnosed” with two separate mental health issues. However, by reading/listening/sharing I realized that even if you are in one other 12 step program and if you have say, anxiety, you qualify. Some members expressed that they often feel unsafe sharing in more traditional meetings about these “outside issues”, but nothing seemed to be out of bounds in this room.
It was beautiful to watch members all throughout the world sharing their struggles because they don’t feel like they are taken seriously for having other mental health challenges in addition to their addiction. I always thought “if only I grew up somewhere exotic, I wouldn’t have any problems”, but to see people who live in those locations and they have the same feelings I have was incredibly powerful.
Something happens when you get to share together, in Zoom or in person, where you get to witness the pain that exists on your insides and you find words to put to that pain that maybe you have never even said out loud before. Then, to look around and see others nodding their heads with recognition because they too, were there, or are there right now is incredibly validating and transformative. It is also a great privilege.
I felt honored to get to partake in my own and in others’ recovery journeys. One thing was undeniable, people were seen, people were heard, people learned, people healed, people grieved, and I can say that myself because I was one of them.
–Nicole M.
