Blog entry for:

i have often dreamed of working the convention circuit as a main speaker and even went to the trouble of starting to polish up and jazz up my ‘story’. much to my dismay, not one addict came calling to take me up on my offer to present my incredibly entertaining and riveting ‘story’. ok, i thought, i just need to spice it up some more than they can hardly help themselves and will be ringing my phone off the hook to speak. again no luck, but a friend in the program sent me a piece called ‘ IP 0 -- SO YOU WANT TO BE A CONVENTION SPEAKER.’ what an eye-opener, the last line basically says (and this is a paraphrase since i have long ago lost the original) stay around, shut your mouth, get some recovery and then tell your story from your heart and not your head.
HMMMMMMMMMM!
tell my story from my heart, but that implies being honest and open and no one wants to hear honest and open, they want funny and riveting, don’t they????????
no, when i hear a speaker i want to hear about feelings, trials and tribulations and how they stayed clean no matter what. it is of course more entertaining to laugh and cry with another addict as they share their story, but if it smacks of creative editing to please the audience, i find myself feeling like i ate a ‘wish sandwich’ two pieces of bread and you wish you had some meat to go between them!
so i when asked to tell my story i speak from my heart and whatever comes out, comes out. if i make anyone cry or laugh that is just icing on the cake. will i ever be a circuit speaker?? who cares, just for today i can tell my story honestly and let that take care of itself.
-- DT --