I’m more than thrilled to have my story Bet The Chalk published by the well-regarded journal WhiskeyPaper. A huge thanks to Leesa Cross-Smith and Loran Smith for giving my work a lovely home. If you visit the site, please take the time to dive into the archives. I’ve read so many tales from WhiskeyPaper that I not only enjoyed immensely, but learned from as well. Just fantastic writing.
You can read my story here
Wisp of Smoke 
What a great story about gambling addiction – it really portrayed the highs and lows so well and so poetically. I have never been addicted to gambling although I have been addicted to cocaine, alcohol, bulimia, OCD, shopping and self-harm. I did take a massive financial risk once my mortgage adviser said my attitude to financial risk was “positively buccaneering” but that risk paid off and has given me financial security for the rest of my life. I suppose that is what the gambling addict is looking for that massive pay off. With cocaine I didn’t bother with having lows, just used 22 hours a day so I was high all the time. Luckily I was 11 years clean last week and my shopping addiction is also in recovery!
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. And congratulations on your 11 years! That’s awesome. The way us addicts view ourselves and society when we are in the midst of the struggle is vastly different than the outlook we have when clean. It’s striking. We can see the beauty in small gestures and the beauty within ourselves. We can care about others as well as ourselves. And we can finally believe in that addict’s fallacy, a little thing called hope. Thanks for stopping by.