12/09/2025                                                                            
                                    
                                    
                                                                        
                                        ADDICTION
At its core, all addiction carries guilt, shame, and anxiety, even if we are not aware of it.
Addiction is a way of running away, a way of hiding from life. It’s a desperate attempt to solve a problem - the problem of living. 
Whether it’s substances, food, work, shopping, scrolling, or even spiritual bypassing, addiction offers a temporary escape from intensity, responsibility, intimacy, and the pain of living. It gives a chemical relief that keeps us chasing the next high, the next distraction, the next dopamine hit, but it numbs us to real life.
And deep down, we know. We know we are running away. We know we are disconnecting from ourselves and from the people we love. We know we are betraying our deepest values, our humanity, and our inner child.
That buried knowing creates shame, even if we cannot name it. It weighs heavily on the nervous system, keeping us restless and trapped in a cycle of seeking, fleeing, disconnection and despair.
Addiction promises relief but leaves us more fragmented, more isolated, and further from real joy than ever.
It does not deliver the connection that it promises.
Healing from addiction is not only about quitting a behaviour. It is about turning toward what we have been running from. It means facing our deepest wounds with honesty and tenderness, rewiring the pathways that keep us stuck in avoidance. It means liberating what has been silenced and repressed within us: the grief, the anger, the fear, and the joy.
It means facing our unlived life, grieving the past, and stepping into our potential.
Healing from addiction is learning to stay present with the mystery of being alive, to feel the full spectrum of our humanity, to connect with our loved ones, and to discover that what we feared would destroy us - our deepest responsibility - is what will finally set us free.
- Jeff Foster