WEEKLY MEDITATION
The appearances of things change according to the emotions, and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves
-Kahlil Gibran
Our experience of the world is primarily a subjective one dictated by what we experience in our inner world at any given point in time. It is actually this very subjectivity that fuels addiction since we can use our addictive substances and behaviors to manipulate this inner reality. Of course this type of manipulation isn’t usually sustainable, and if the addiction is strong enough it will eventually create enough havoc in our external world that no level of inward manipulation will be effective enough to counteract it. This is usually the point in our addiction struggles where we seek help. And the process of successful recovery is also one of changing our inner reality, but in a more substantial and sustainable way. Recovery should remain an effort to change our inner consciousness in such a way that life feels fulfilling and safe enough to support our non-addicted selves. Although it is often important to make changes to our outer lives—having a safe home, finding healthy community, gaining employment,—it is the changes to our inner experience that can reliably soften our addictive drives. As we successfully take responsibility for the way we feel internally, we remove the need for the external manipulations that form our addictions.
