Macklemore's Recovery Story (3 recovery lessons we all need to hear!)

Here are three things we can all learn from Macklemore about recovery. Now, for those of you who don't know, Macklemore is a rapper, and he is known to talk very openly about his recovery. And he's got some very important lessons that we could all learn from. Macklemore's real name is Ben Haggerty. And when you listen to him in interviews, he talks about his drug addiction and his relationship recovery. He talks about the day he took his first drink. At the time, he was alone in his kitchen and he decided to drink a shot of alcohol. And that led to another and another and another, until he had drank 12 shots at the age of 14, the first time he'd ever drank alone in his kitchen. And from that moment on, the substances were a problem. Now, there were periods of times when McLemore would take a break from substances, because even at a really young age, Macklemore realized that he wasn't his most productive, creative, best self when he's using substances. And so he would go through these periods of trying to be sober and getting a lot of work done and being creative, and then other periods of being really wasted and intoxicated and partying. And this back and forth process went on for lots of years, all the way up until he was about 25 years old. And that's when his father confronted him one day and just said, look, I know you're not happy. We've got to deal with this. And that conversation ultimately is what led him to his first rehab, which I believe is like a 30 day program. And during that program, he talks openly about the fact that he really did want recovery. Even though it wasn't his idea to start with, his dad had confronted him. So many of us, we really need that push because deep down inside, we want something different. We just can't make ourselves take those steps. In fact, Macklemore talks about how he actually wanted it. Off and on from being a teenager in his early 20s, he wanted something sobriety. He knew he was miserable. He knew it was keeping him from his potential. Which is what brings me to lesson number one, that we can all learn from Michael Moore about addiction recovery and sobriety. And that is being really honest with ourselves about the nature of drug and alcohol use. It's so glorified in our culture, it's everywhere, that we all, even adults, feel this constant pressure to use these substances. So, so much so that a lot of us have a difficult time telling ourselves the truth about what's happening, how we feel about these substances, what benefits we get from them and how they're harming us. But one thing I love about Macklemore is that he talks about this so openly and honestly in his music and in his interviews. He talks about the truth, the dark side behind all the partying. You know, so many other rappers and entertainers, they really glamorize that lifestyle. But anyone who's been stuck in it knows that it's not all glamorous. There's a lot of ugliness and brokenness, lies, disconnectedness, unhappiness, and even depression. Now, the second big lesson that we can all learn from Ben Haggerty is the fact that he's not anonymous. He's unanimous. In fact, he's very open about his addiction and recovery struggles. So many people out there who are trying to get cleanness over, and even those people who have a good amount of recovery time, it's almost like they're embarrassed or scared to say that they're in recovery, which actually creates a lot of problems for their recovery. The fact that he's so open about it creates a level of accountability that very much helps ensure his success. And the third big lesson we can learn from Macklemore about how to do recovery is he talks so openly about being a part of a recovery community, and not just being a part of a recovery community, but actually utilizing his recovery community the way that it's meant to be utilized. I was listening to an interview with him recently. He was talking about how he was trying to finish up his album, the Heist, and how he had, like, run out of creativity and ideas, and he was just exhausted, and he really needed to push the rest of the way through and finish it up. But he just couldn't find what he needed, the energy and the passion inside to help him get through the rest of that album. But here's the good part about that story. He talked about how he told his friend and his girlfriend said, hey, I'm thinking about doing this. What do you think? The fact that he's so open about it, that is what's making his recovery successful. You cannot recover in secrecy. Addiction lives and thrives in the darkness. And if you want to have any chance at beating it, you have to turn the light on it. And I love what his friends told him in response to the Adderall question. What they said to him is, you know what? That's a shortcut. And there's so many problems with that. What if you write a song while you're on Adderall and it's a huge success. What is that going to do to you that's going to make you think, oh, I need more of that, and you're going to find yourself back in that spiral again. But it was his openness, his willingness to say it out loud to someone else and to really hear their feedback that kept him from a relapse. Now for those of you out there who are not familiar with his music, I strongly encourage you to check it out. It has some really genuine you're going to hear some cold, hard truth about the world of addiction and the process of digging your way out of it. My personal thank you so much to Macklemore for sending out a different message, for not glamorizing the partying lifestyle, for being truthful and honest. Because so many of us really need to hear that message. And I sure have a lot of respect and appreciation for you being willing to put yourself out there like that to help others. Now for those of you who want to know more about the actual process of getting cleanings over, watch this video next.