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The Wellbriety Movement
and the
Lord of the Rings
An exclusive story by Willie
Wolf
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| Willie
Wolf (center of the photo at the center) connects
the Wellbriety Movement with the popular Fellowship
of the Ring Trilogy. WELCOME TO THE FIRST
ISSUE OF 2004!
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THE LORD OF THE RINGS AND THE
WELLBRIETY MOVEMENT
By Willie Wolf
I just finished reading the last of the
Lord of the Rings Trilogy book: The
Return of the King. I felt this was the best
of the series and it reminded me of the Wellbriety movement
in a number of ways. First of all, for those of you
who might not be familiar with the story, there is a
group of elves, dwarfs, a wizard, humans and Hobbits
who band together on a single mission to overcome the
evil in the world. This is not unlike our spiritual
community, where I am very close to people that otherwise
I might not have much in common with. The fellowship
likewise offers support and helps us to realize that
we are not alone in our addiction or codependency.
One of the characters is Samwise,
who is Frodo’s best friend.
He is an excellent example of what it means to have
someone love you unconditionally. In the Wellbriety
movement, I have a number of friends who demonstrate
this quality on a regular basis. Unlike my drinking
buddies who only cared if I was going to party with
them, the friends I have now are always there for me
and if I ever need an encouraging word or just someone
to share my feelings with, they are available.
Step
9: Justice
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others
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As part of a larger community, it is important
that I realize that I have to do certain things to make
sure I am working on my recovery, promoting unity within
the group and performing service to others whenever
I can. Along the way, the Fellowship encountered many
obstacles and challenges, which tried to prevent them
from reaching their goal. In our recovery we also face
many tests, which try to get us off the Red Road. Some
of these can include divorce, losing a job, health issues,
and of course, the daily struggle with my old friends
anger, guilt, shame and fear.
Gollum was
this strange creature who seemed to be very pitiful
and acted like he wanted to help Frodo and Samwise find
their way. However, he was actually very deceitful and
was leading them to their ruin. This character reminded
me of Iktomini, the trickster, who represents the cunning,
baffling and powerful aspects of alcohol. When I first
started drinking I thought it was my companion, but
it only led me to become someone I never wanted to be.
Gandalf,
who was the wizard in the story, reminded me of my sponsor
who always knows what to say at just the right time.
My sponsor tells me things that I don’t think I can
do sometimes, but then I realize that with God’s help
I can. I needed a wizard to help me reclaim my power.
I was a people pleaser and I seemed to relish the victim
role. As a good friend of mine says, first we recover
and then we rediscover who we really are.
Aragon is
a prince who eventually becomes the King. He exemplifies
courage, as he is a brave warrior and a great leader.
He never asks anyone to do anything he is not willing
to do himself. He has tremendous strength and deals
with his fears by confronting them. Aragon has the courage
to change the things he can, and as a result he is able
to accomplish tasks that seem insurmountable at the
time.
Towards the end of the book Frodo had
an opportunity to kill Sauron,
the evil wizard. Instead he choose not to—he
said he had suffered enough. Even though Sauron had
caused tremendous pain in Frodo’s life, he was
able to forgive him. Thus, we see the gift of the Hoop:
Learn to forgive the unforgiveable.
This is something we learn in the Ninth Step of the
program. Once we are able to do this we gain tremendous
freedom in our sobriety, and we realize what it means
to be happy, joyous and free.
Willie Wolf, Cheyenne River Sioux,
is President of WC Consulting, Inc., a Native American
owned and operated consulting and training firm that
has worked with many Tribal, government, nonprofit,
and urban Indian Centers across Indian country, including
Alaska Native Communities. WC Consulting is committed
to provide state-of-the-art training courses, consultation,
and technical assistance to organizations in need of
this information. The trainings offered provide the
most current information available and all the trainings
are culturally relevant. Willie can be reached at (303)
591-0612 or online at cankuluta4@aol.com
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| Richard
Simonelli (L), editor of Wellbriety! Magazine,
and Blaine (Woody) Wood, head of the Firestarters
Program |
An
Invitation to…
Share With Wellbriety! Online Magazine in 2004
Welcome to Wellbriety! Online Magazine
for 2004! We, at White Bison, Inc., want to extend
a special invitation to you in addictions recovery,
to you walking the Red Road to wellness, and to
you who are part of the Wellbriety Movement, to
contribute stories of your own Journey, to Wellbriety!
Magazine this year.
We want to especially invite the
many Firestarters Circles that are using the Medicine
Wheel and the 12 Steps Way to tell us how it is
working for you, your family and your community.
This is a great opportunity to share what’s working
in your community with other Firestarters around
this sacred land we call Turtle Island, or North
America. It’s a great opportunity to interest
other Native and non-Native people in the extended
cultural and holistic approach to the well-known
12 Steps of AA. It’s a chance to share a Journey
that leads through sobriety and recovery and into
wellness and Wellbriety.
Willie Wolf’s story about the Lord
of the Ring Trilogy and the Wellbriety Movement
in this issue is a good role model for a story
that was contributed by someone like yourself.
Willie was moved to see and make the connection
between the books he read and the films he saw,
with his own Red Road Journey. It can be that
simple. If there’s something you want to say,
why not write a short story about your own healing
journey and send it to Wellbriety! Magazine? Don’t
worry about being an accomplished writer. If your
story is about addictions recovery and the Journey
to wellness in Native culture, we’ll consider
it for Wellbriety! Magazine. If it’s about how
you, as a non-Native person, are using any of
White Bison’s resources to help yourself, your
family, or your community, we’ll consider it for
publication.
Firestarter’s
Newsletter
White Bison’s Firestarter Program is headed up
by Blaine (Woody) Wood. In 2004 we plan to begin
a special Firestarters
Newsletter section for Wellbriety! Magazine.
The Firestarters Newsletter will contain newsy
items about what’s going on in your Firestarters
Circle. The Newsletter will be a way for Firestarters
Circles to keep in touch with one another and
to learn what each other is doing. All it takes
is a few paragraphs of information telling us
what’s happening. If we get enough short bits
of information, a clear picture will emerge about
who’s doing what in both the U.S. and Canada—and
maybe around the world. If you send a photograph
over e-mail, or by regular mail, then we can connect
your Circle’s information with a picture.
Photographs can be of individuals,
family groups, Drums, community events—things
like that. Information can be about upcoming events,
membership, unique wellness approaches that you
are using—whatever you want to share with other
Circles around Turtle Island. Here is what we
would like you to include in the information you
send:
| • |
Your name |
| • |
Your e-mail address and telephone
number, in other words, how you can be contacted |
| • |
The name of your Firestarters
Circle |
| • |
The location where your Circle
meets |
| • |
The Tribal affiliation or affiliations,
if any, of your Circle |
| • |
How long has your Circle been
going? |
| • |
About how many people participate? |
| • |
A paragraph or two containing
the information you would like to share |
| • |
E-mail photo if you have one.
Be sure to say what the photo is about and
who is in it. |
| • |
Send everything to info@whitebison.org
and mark it: To Richard Simonelli and Wellbriety!
Magazine. |
| • |
You can also fax information
to (719) 548-9407. |
| • |
Or you can mail information,
including photographs, to Wellbriety! Magazine,
White Bison, Inc., 6145 Lehman Drive, Suite
200, Colorado Springs, CO 80918-3440 |
| • |
You can also communicate with
us through Woody, during one of the Firestarters
training programs |
Youth
We especially want to hear from young people in
recovery and young people who are dedicated to
living healthy, well lives. There are many ways
you, as a young person, can be in the Wellbriety
for Youth Program. Sometimes you’ll be
involved in the Medicine Wheel and 12 Steps Way,
or maybe there are other ways you are staying
on the Red Road and exploring your own Good Mind.
We want to hear from you.
Are you part of a tradition in your
own culture that helps you stay free of drugs,
alcohol and other addictive ways of life? Are
you in the Daughters of
Tradition or Sons
of Tradition programs? Are you doing something
in school that helps? What are your own hopes,
dreams, and plans for your education? Have you
thought about college? Are you learning about
writing in an English class? If so, here is a
chance for you to be a published writer. Write
us a letter, an essay, or a story about something
that is important to you. Tell us about what it
means to be your age. Tell us about what kind
of music you are listening to. What movies you
watch. About your friends, your community, where
you are going in your life. Do you like to draw?
Then share with us something that you drew. If
it fits with what Wellbriety! Magazine is about,
we’ll consider putting it online. Tell us what
you’re doing in your life.
Wellbriety
Month and the Conference
It’s not too soon to be thinking about National
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, September
2004. We call that National
Wellbriety Month in Indian Country. It’s
also not too soon to think about coming to the
Fifth Annual Circles of Recovery Conference in
Rapid City, South Dakota. This year’s conference
will be held from September 22-26, 2004. If you
want to know about what took place in the 2003
Conference check out Wellbriety! Online Magazine,
Volume 4, Numbers 19-33, which you can find on
the White Bison Website under Wellbriety! Magazine.
Wellbriety is working for many people
now. Many of us are taking our own wellness journeys
in so many diverse ways. Wellbriety! Online Magazine
wants to hear from you in 2004.
In Wellbriety!
Richard Simonelli
Editor of Wellbriety! Online Magazine
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