Lead field researcher Courtney Allen asked women in recovery to share images and thoughts about how they are experiencing recovery during the current COVID-19 restrictions in Maine. Here are some of their answers:
K: This is a part of my routine in my recovery. I had to learn a new way to live and each one of these things are contributing to my new way of life. School, coffee, and smokes because I no longer use dope.
E: seeing this every day helps me stay focused addiction ends here the cycle ends w me and my daughter… my grandson will never experience what me and my children have experience due to addiction. my children are the 5th generation affected by sud (indirectly).
L: “Daisy If You Do”…A line from my favorite movie, Tombstone. When Doc Holidae says this phrase, he’s basically saying that the person is tempting fate and is going to end up dead- or “pushing up daisies”. I painted the rocks as a reminder that I’d be pushing up daisies myself if I kept tempting fate.
K: My cats are my constant in this ever changing world.
L: This is a picture of what’s helping me during Covid with my recovery. Time outside in my garden. Pulling weeds and moving plants and sewing new seeds is good for my heart, mind, body and soul.
A: this is caine. she is my rock, especially during COVID. she brings me through a range of emotions daily, she brings me comfort, and she fills my heart with love. and even more, she is living thing that depends on me, always.
D: Working outside with a chainsaw is one of my gifts of recovery and one of my biggest pleasures. I found God in Baxter State Park and during this time being able to cut (because safety requires 6 feet anyway) is one of my biggest spiritual and satisfying times. Having the freedom to do what I love and do something useful have been huge. “Change a thought, move a muscle”
R: Riding on the trails, not a care in the world. No worries, no concerns, just riding free. It truly doesn’t matter what time it is, I go morning, noon, and night. I don’t have to social distance, no need to wear a mask because covid doesn’t exist when I’m on the trails. Going 60mph in the middle of the forest is the only rush I need. No drug has ever satisfied me the way this machine has. I’m grateful to have what I do today and this is just one of the things that has helped me.
C: This may just seem like a pile of trash to some but to me it is a reminder that my children are home with me. And even though they are messy and I spend more time then I would like to admit cleaning up after them, I am grateful that we are together during quarantine and I have the opportunity to do so. Also, this is progress – they used to just leave it all over their room, now they are putting in the trash! #winning
S: No matter how crazy life may seem at times, I have to continue to be grateful for the little things in life.”
J: Every evening I get a moment of time that is just mine. I walk out on my little balcony that looks over my back yard and I get a needed moment when I speak to my Higher Power in whatever manner feels right and I feel better after. Sometimes it’s me yelling, crying or just being grateful but in those brief vulnerable and sometimes desperate minutes I need I can find the balance again and know in that sunset I am not in control of this crazy world but in only how I react.
A: Drawing and music. When I can’t get out of my head and the world just seems to get heavy,I throw some music on that relates to how I’m feeling and then draw. It give me an escape from all the crazy.
K: COVID 19 has made me realize how much I love being outside; how much I love the sun, the fire, the water; how much I love this life. COVID 19 has taught me how to live with a grateful happy heart.
L: Painting rocks with my daughter and experiencing being part of her artistic creativity; watching her. Also, It’s been amazing gardening, both hands in roots and soil today, soooooo full of gratitude, better go love on my elders in the 7 pm zoom meeting …. I may plug in and take a sunset ride to the pond.
S: This is much more than just a chair. A firm believer in “one [wo]man’s trash is another’s treasure”, this chair once belonged to a very special neighbor and our childcare provider, pre-COVID-19. Now, in our home, it acts as a break chair. It lives in our garage and takes frequent trips to the backyard. When my husband or I need to take a moment to ourselves, we resort to the golden chair; a moment of silence, a smoke break, a place to rest after running around. It may look like just a chair, but to us it represents a space to reground, recenter, and rest.
A: I just got done with my family law homework. This computer is important to me because it’s how I communicate with my supports and how I can continue to go to school. Without this technology I wouldn’t have the things I worked so hard for. It connects me to what’s most important in my life and for my recovery that’s everything.