By Aaron Blanton
January Magazine
If the concepts of recovery and fitting in and being normal do not resonate for you, chances are Becoming Normal (Central Recovery Press) is not a book that needs to be added to your shelves. The audience for this book is quite specific, but it’s also large and mostly under-serviced. The central theme in this personal memoir is learning how to regain your life and re-find your way after addiction. It is, in a way, beyond recovery, which is actually the very first steps.
Becoming Normal is a self-portrait of someone successfully and simply working their program day by day. The beauty comes in the poignant way Edick relates his recovery: one day at a time.
“For me, normal once meant drinking and drugging. Mood- and mind-altering substances, including alcohol, brought me to my knees. My addiction had many manifestations, but a single common thread. Its power lay in what I thought of myself, what I thought others thought of me, and my reaction to what I was thinking. This is my story — how I went from being a drunk to being someone who chooses not to drink. My story is about my old idea of normal and how, through recovery, I was able to define and re-create my new understanding of what I believe normal is.”
There is a certain peaceful clarity in Edick’s voice. Those who struggle with the issues covered here might find comfort in Edick’s calm and simple telling of his personal struggle.
—
Normalcy is a relative and unusual term. “Becoming Normal: An Ever-Changing Perspective” is a discussion of normalcy from a man who holds himself as an outsider to the world of normal. Philosophical in its sights, he discusses normalcy and the drive of us vs. them philosophy and how it drives people differently through life and how everyone tries to be normal without really knowing what normal really is. Thought provoking and enlightening, “Becoming Normal” is a top and very highly recommended pick.
—
That question has plagued author Mark Edick, who is in long-term recovery, all his life.
To be normal means to fit in. That is what I thought. To fit in means I will be more loved, cared for, and needed. I longed for these things. I yearned for these things. I had spent my whole life seeking real love, true caring, a sense of being needed. And I had so far come up short. From the book:
So begins Edick’s exploration of Becoming Normal and what that means to him and to others who have spent their lives being out of synch with what many in the mainstream consider normal. The book is a narrative examination of the author’s understanding of addiction and his journey to discover how to live a healthy, meaningful, and normal life.
According to Edick, once it was normal to drink and take drugs. Now it is normal for him not to drink or take drugs. In this book, the concept of normal is not simply a comparison between extremes, but of the personal and evolving understanding and acceptance of normal as it applies to the individual and his or her changing relationship with alcohol and drugs. The individual’s new normal involves adopting the habit of not drinking or drugging by stopping to think about potential actions and then choosing rationally rather than react due to force of habit.
Edick, a first-time author, who has been in recovery for over seven years, is a retired autoworker from Lansing, Michigan. Becoming Normal includes wisdom gleaned from his relationship with his twelve-step fellowship sponsor and other lessons learned along the way. Coming to terms with normality for Edick means coming to grips with the addiction that defined his life and his perception of reality, and getting into recovery. It means understanding that comparing others to himself, being afraid, and thinking of himself in terms of Us vs. Them creates artificial boundaries that redefines normality in ways that diminishes his sense of self and belonging. And it means coming to terms with himself as a person who can fit in anywhere and who can learn from anyone.
As readers follow Edick’s journey to normal, they begin to appreciate their own understanding of the topic. Soon it becomes clear that whether or not a person struggles with the problems living in active addiction brings, the quest to determine what is normal is common to everyone.
Comfortable, yet compelling. Don’t let this book pass you by: it might just transform your life!
Jack G. Jesse, Ph.D., LMSW, CAAC, Substance Abuse Division Director, Barry/Eaton District Health Department
Becoming Normal is a refreshing examination of the human condition and how one man was able to beat the odds. Powerful, poignant, moving, down-to-earth, his examination of self-defeating thought processes offers an alternative perspective to those who struggle with the stigma associated with their identification as alcoholic/addict. While this is one man’s story, it is also the story of millions. It is a study of self, but more importantly, of the reality in which we view ourselves and in which society sees us.
