Welcome to “In The Mix” where I share what has piqued my curiosity and interest, heard through the grapevine or landed in my lap each week. A relevant curation of books, articles, websites, events, podcasts and such that might interest you too! I am a voracious & curious reader, explorer of innovation and thought leadership.
I’ve done a lot of listening lately.
The topic that keeps coming up is stigma, in this Oprah Daily Article Beth Macy talks about her personal journey with stigma and how it shaped her.
On Gail Buck’s “I Love Me Lab,” Gail and I talk about the generation of mothers experiencing the collateral impact of “addiction epidemic” and how collectively we can do our part to end stigma so that the next generation of mothers suffer less.
Gary Mendel of Shatterproof also talks about stigma with Gail Buck and the way society is till being behind the times when it comes to preventing and treating substance use and addiction.
I listened to Glennon Doyles, We Can Do Hard Things episodes with Author and woman in recovery, Cheryl Strayed. Cheryl is the well known author of Wild, chronicling her solo journey on the Pacific Coast Trail. Particularly interesting was her practice of making lists and the discussion they have about this particular kind of list on the second episode with Cheryl. Cheryl talks about lists as “powerful tools. I believe in them entirely. I’ve made so many good decisions based on them. I think for me the trick is to really go outside the box in terms of the questions you answer on your list. For example, make a series of lists. What are the things you’re afraid of if you do this? What are the things that you’ll lose if you do this? What are the things that you’ll gain if you do this? What are the things you don’t know about doing this? Which sounds like a crazy list to make, because how do you make a list of things that you don’t know, but I promise you things will come.”
I went to the Lady Gaga concert the other night. During the show before launching into this song, she said, “I know that some of you are having a good time tonight. I also know that some of you are having a hard time having fun. I know what it feels like to try hard to enjoy life with everything that is going on. I wrote this for you.” One of the things that I ceased when we where in the throes of chaotic substance was dancing. Going to concerts, moving to the music is one of my deep comforts and also pleasures.
Tuesday is Pub Day for Dopesick Author, Beth Macy’s new book Raising Lazarus. I am excited for this book to come out so that people can read the real life stories of people changing the way addiction is treated and helping people get well. Here is the calendar for the book, maybe she will be in your town and you can stop in and meet her.
I love to share what I find while out in the field or comes recommended from a trusted source. Throughout my experience mothering addiction and recovery and recovering myself, I looked to the innovators, thought leaders, way showers who were grounded in love, kindness and science. Sometimes the best guidance came from outside the realm of addiction/recovery. If you have something to share with the mothers, please do! You can email me shelly@shellylyoung.com or comment below.