While going through old work, I found some letters I wrote to friends during my stint in rehab two years ago. That was a time. I’m going to post a few of them this week since they’re not too personal. I was still part of my old studio, Pizza Island, at the time and wrote letters to the group as a whole because they’re all my friends and I’m lazy. These aren’t my best bits of writing but that should be forgiven considering I felt like my head was full of bees and I hardly slept at all because my roommate had one of those ocean sounds machines that sound more like rocks being dragged over glass and I’d ask her not to turn it on but she’d do it anyways after I fell asleep and blahblahblah. Anyways, enjoy? I certainly did not.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Please feel free to delete this comment, if it makes you mad or otherwise unhappy. That’s cool.
From what I’ve read, in your letter, your time there was almost completely no good, but I kinda liked your letter.
It has a literary feel like: [things really stink in rehab, but things are tough all over. Rehab feels like the outside world, just people are more controlled here]…that type of feeling.
Cheers, TR
well, being in rehab definitely sucks, but it’s not “completely no good” because it probably saved my life and shit. So, that’s good. Plus there were lots of snacks
This is so good, Julia. I want to read more! Like, did you eventually take a shit?
I, too, would like to know if you eventually took a shit. For research purposes.
Also I can’t recall if you’ve mentioned your stint in rehab before. Regardless, this is damn interesting. Please feel free to post more!
Thank you sooo much for the tragicomic relief!
Your cartoons just cracked me up.
But seriously, glad you got the ‘saved my life bit’ sooner rather than later.
Some of us just cannot have a good time with the wine , alas!
I have had a BFF or two that rolled through the rehab door more than a few,,,so there is some knee knocking pain behind my laughter. thanks for sharing!
Man! Please excuse my odd comment, above.
Geez, I really said “your time in there was almost completely no good”, didn’t I? Talk about my brain going on vacation. I think I meant: [It sounds like a lot of your time in there was spooky + horrid]. “Almost completely no good”? Ok, That’s it.
I’ll try to never write comments when I’m feeling tired + spacy, again. : )
I think you are a badass for being open about this stuff. Your accounts & many others helped me motivate myself to quit the drugs. And now you have books and shit! Very cool. Much love & respect.
I thought I was the only one who said “cray-cray”
Thanks for sharing this. There are some times when the anonymity is necessary, but most of the time, to me at least, it feels like it maintains the mark of shame that it is there to prevent in the first place. Seeing other alcoholics sharing their success in a more public setting makes me feel better about my illness.
Ryon,
anonymity (at the level of press, radio and film) is necessary when talking about AA, but not when talking about rehab or simply being an alcoholic. I am very open and honest about my alcoholism, and I never hide it, but I wouldn’t talk about belonging to AA in a radio interview (for example).
I think I said a message like this, indirectly, but: I apologize for making time in rehab sound like it was, [completely no good].
I have the hardest time writing tone, or feelings, on the internet, on some occasions. Ugh.
I was attempting to say that time in rehab was something like army boot camp, or recovering from leg surgery, or: something that can be as hard as nails, for some people, but it is a very good and useful thing, nonetheless.
Sorry about that. I tend to royally goof some things, sometimes. eep.