WEEKLY MEDITATION
We are all just walking each other home.
-Ram Das
It is so important when discussing addiction to remember what we are really talking about. Distilled to its essence, we are simply talking about the desire for comfort and belonging. Of course it is necessary to talk about that to which we find ourselves addicted, and the mechanics, both emotional and physical, that are employed during this process. But beyond all of these important talking points lies the same drive that motivates all biological beings—and certainly the entire human race. Those with acute addiction problems are not fundamentally different than those without, even if they are temporarily facing a particular type of dysfunctional attempt to answer the same existential and emotional questions that will drive humanity for as long as it exists. And there is a reason that those seeking addiction recovery are urged to spend time with others in recovery in the beginning—so that they can begin to find that sense of identification and connection. Of course it is legitimately essential that we continue to hash out the more nuanced and specific realities within the addiction discussion. But as today’s quotation succinctly reminds us, we must not forget that in the end, whether it be through our addictions or our recoveries, we are only trying to get home.
