Chapters of Recovery

cbr, 2024 - #nowplaying - Jayem, Tima Dee - Way Down

Real World, Unscripted

Every place I’ve lived since rehab feels like a season of The Real World - minus the cameras, plus a whole lot of raw reality. Each residence wasn’t just a space, it was a chapter. A microcosm of connection, expectation, and ultimately, disconnection.

Unspoken Threshold

There’s always been this invisible line. An unspoken expectation hanging in the air, thick as humidity before a storm. I’d move in, integrate, become part of the neighborhood tapestry. Friendly waves, shared conversations, momentary belonging. But then… something would shift.

A breach. An unmet expectation. Not always dramatic, sometimes just a subtle fracture in the foundation of trust or understanding.

Integrity’s Delicate Dance

Recovery isn’t linear. Neither are relationships. Each move felt like both an escape and a reset. The neighborhoods changed, the faces rotated, but the underlying rhythm remained consistent:

• Connect

• Integrate

• Sense the growing tension

• Recognize the impending disconnect

• Move

Cycle of Transience

Is this growth? Or just a sophisticated form of running? Each residence becomes a temporary home, each neighbor a fleeting connection. The Real World without the reunion special.

Life feels the same in some ways but different.

Different, because each move carries the weight of previous lessons. The same, because the fundamental search for genuine connection remains constant.

Rehab taught me about rebuilding. These residences? They’re teaching me about surviving, about the delicate art of human connection in a world that rarely holds still.

Where does it end?

Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s not supposed to.

-Mitchell + Deck