Looking back now, 2021 has been by far the most eventful and significant year I have experienced. I spent practically my entire life on the other side of the Hudson River in New Jersey living fast to say the least. Suburban life was good at 22—I managed to get a degree that enabled me to work in New York City. I could tell you how I had a normal life at that point, but I would be lying... I would start digging a hole for myself over the next 16 years that would be too deep to climb out of on my own. The pandemic hit towards the end of my run further compromising my situation. A common statement I remember hearing is “the places my addiction took me,” and for me there were a lot of places except recovery was not one of them. Let alone the fact I would rarely travel and found it convenient to isolate. Long story short I would find myself in a long-term treatment called Alina Lodge; a place you could never imagine.
Treatment was a good place to find some structure, discipline, and get a foundation for recovery. I was told right before Thanksgiving that I would be moving on to sober living from treatment. If someone told me at the start that I needed to also go to sober living I would have avoided it, but at this point I am pretty excited. There were a lot of considerations put into aftercare for each person after Alina Lodge; so I had a fair amount of questions and anxiety. I was psyched though about being able to live somewhere out of state and move on. It wasn’t till about a week or so before discharge that I found out I would be going to Peace and Purpose in Asheville, North Carolina. I really just assumed sober living was a place to rest between work with a few checkpoints.
My counselor at treatment had set up a call for me to talk to Ronan, who runs Peace and Purpose. I had a brief idea about the place as several others from treatment landed there. It was nice to hear they had a whole program with options and lots of ties with the Asheville community. The questions were logistical such as what is the living situation, what to bring, and getting freedoms back like having a choice of what to eat. I heard what they were planning on doing for Thanksgiving and it sounded alright. My parents had a lot more questions and concerns than I did. Ronan told me not to worry about anything just to get down there and he along with my counselor handled everything.
It was a nice feeling to be getting out of treatment and jumping on a plane to go somewhere new. The initial shock of freedom in the airport caught me by surprise. I had been in treatment for about 7 months so just being in an airport, having my cell phone, and drinking soda was a huge change. I had no one to call or anything although; so I was somewhat relieved. The plane ride went by real fast and next thing I knew I was finally in North Carolina. It had been a long time coming after all that had happened prior to getting sober than being in treatment. I grabbed my luggage and one of the house managers from Peace and Purpose picked me up. It was a drive up into the mountains from the airport and the weather was much warmer than the Northeast.
Peace and Purpose was easy for me to settle into. There was support for whatever I needed and the people were friendly. There are a few alumni from Alina Lodge that work at Peace and Purpose. Also, several people from the same treatment center have been here for the past several months making it easy to get connected. I probably had the most anxiety since I have been here when I first went to the grocery store. There are people in different phases in the program here; although it's one big environment. There is a big support system between Ronan, the house/case managers, and your sponsor. Finding a sponsor wasn't as tough as I thought as they pointed me in the right direction.
The first night we jumped in the Suburban and headed out to a meeting. It was nice to finally be at meetings with people outside of treatment. Everything I was worried about was taken care of like they said they would. I really had no idea what I was going to be doing here fresh out of treatment. The house managers will bring us to volunteer at different places in Asheville. Get a choice whether or not to go AA or NA, and we have some groups at the house. It's cool to be out and about as we'll also goto the gym and do activities in our free time. The house is really comfortable; everything you need is here or a short drive away. There are a couple dogs that are friendly along with something always going on. It's a nice sense of freedom with a safety net.. I'm not stressed like I thought I would be in sober living because of the people and how my days are set up.
I had never planned on getting sober or living in North Carolina, but both happened. It is working out better than planned so far. It's at the point now where I feel settled in, comfortable and willing to take on more. I try to follow recovery as I am supposed to and get a lot of opportunities I wouldn't have before. I will be spending the holidays here which will be a change. Looking forward to finding some type of work locally after the New Year. Life is much different than before, but where I am at is much better than I expected.