09/01/2026
Recovery happens in unlimited types of ways. One person perhaps utilizes long periods of clinical treatment. Another may be ready to act fast and change everything that was old into all that is new. Could be that it is a change of location, employment, and a new friend group that’s necessary for us to move on. There’s neither one right way, nor a wrong way to do it, yet rarely do we do it alone.
We reach a place that forces us to look at things differently. And see ourselves in a new light. We find something that speaks to us honestly. We uncover truth, and locate something real. We often open ourselves up to a heightened level of curiosity and growth, and we develop a personal operating system of accountability that works for us.
Myself Roger Ray Bird I first leaned on my friends, well, no, that’s not true, factually it was that I finally allowed my friends to pick me up without injecting a high level of defeating self-sabotage to the dynamic. Then I moved away, immersed myself in nature, and committed myself to an athletic career. Later as addiction resurfaced in my life in brand-new ways, I then utilized the art form of writing to help me save my own life: First with poetry, second with journaling. It’s seems a sort of expressionism has helped many a people dig themselves out of their own despair.
I’d like to introduce you to an amazing human and a friend of Recovery Foundation, Mister Larry Erdman Larry Erdman . I first met Larry at a recovery house in Madison Wisconsin where he was living as a resident. During a tour of the house we went into the basement, and I was shocked to see an amazing array of freshly painted art- Larry’s art. I bought one of his paintings on the spot just for me, and I bought another for my acclaimed artist friend Lillian Lillian Almeida .
There’s much more on the subject of Larry, but referencing art and the larger topic, would you like to hear more: Specifically, HOW do we recover?
Watch for upcoming stories and a feature on Larry but for now, enjoy these two videos, one from Lillian and one from me (Roger).