I caught up with an old friend whom I admire, who confessed to me that he had just gotten out of Betty Ford and I said “I want to go!” Not because I have an addiction I want to overcome, I just want the whole spa experience of it. This man told me he was asked to isolate five areas of his life – what kind of person are you? – we both knew what we both are – TYPE AAA – then what is your birth order – he is oldest, I am youngest – there was what is your addiction level, like do you go out to get drunk, do you abuse alcohol, is it bourbon and regret – then the one that was most important was what degree of spirituality was going on in life – the first question asked was “do you consider yourself the center of all things?” and of course, most don’t answer yes to this, and neither did my friend, but you have to decide who is your higher power – is your spirituality derived from a conventional religion, or a friend network, family, what? Whatever you claim to be aiding and abetting your spirit then becomes your higher power that you then seek the 12 steps from.
I don’t know about no Betty Ford – I think first of all life is hard and everyone has his or her own coping mechanism, but isn’t Betty Ford a coping mechanism? – it’s another “thing” that says you are not in control of yourself and so therefore must subscribe to this (this could be drugs, alcohol, relationships, food, exercise, rehab, religion).
What’s up with Betty Ford? Does rehab work? If everyone who should went to rehab would we then flat line across all segments of art, literature, architecture, film, friends, family, and relationships? Boring!