Some months ago, I decided to write a book relating the story of my personal journey which would be provisionally titled Those Who Came Before: A Personal Journey Into Understanding Drug Addiction and Addiction Recovery. Recently, I decided I would serialise this story on the Recovery Stories website, rather than send it to a publisher.
From next week, I will post a new chapter of My Journey each Monday. You will be able to find links to all chapters as they appear on the website on an archive page. Here is a summary of My Journey:
After spending nearly 20 years as a neuroscientist, I changed ‘career’ at the beginning of the millennium. I developed the grassroots initiative WIRED (later known as Wired In), which involved a range of activities including storytelling, a qualitative-based research programme, education and information initiatives, a drug and alcohol news portal (Daily Dose) and other websites, filmmaking, real-world and online community development (Wired In To Recovery), and recovery advocacy.
Wired In aimed to empower—by creating hope, understanding and a sense of belonging—and connect individuals, families, and communities. Our work was based on the core values of acceptance, authenticity, compassion, creativity, empathy, reciprocity, and trust. The initiative was widely acclaimed.
After moving to Australia, I developed the Recovery Stories and Sharing Culture (educational initiative focused on the healing of intergenerational trauma) websites [1], as well as The Carrolup Story project (with John Stanton), an inspirational story of trauma and the overcoming of trauma amongst Aboriginal children. I became increasingly interested in Indigenous Healing Practices.
[1] I have not updated Sharing Culture since November 2018, but have left the website up as an ‘archive’.
Below are some of the core members of my Wired In team over time. From Left: Kevin Manley, Lucie James, Sarah Davies and Beck Hancock. The photo was taken at my farewell in the King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston, Gower, just before I moved from the UK to Perth Australia in December 2008.
