“No man [or woman] is an island.” – John Donne

I used to believe that I was entirely independent of this world. Today, this seems like such a naive and ignorant notion. But my addictions brought me to the point where I isolated myself from the outside, closing myself indoors, unseen and alone. I had friends and people with whom I talked and partied, but I always kept them at a distance, never let them in too close. I believed myself “terminally unique,” as they say in the rooms. I believed that I could relate to no one  There was always something I could find that made me different, less-than, or even, special. It amazes me now that I know so many others who share similar stories, that I believed myself the only one to feel as I did, to suffer as I did.

It was a bittersweet moment when…