It’s a little over 2 years ago since I started this blog and I thought it was about time to review what I am doing (or not as the case may be.)
One of the things that has prompted this was a promised post on Gambling and Advertising which I think I did the first draft of back in 2021. It is now April 2022 and I have decided that this can’t go on. So instead of continuing to research and write drafts and formulate ideas – I thought I would just review where I am with all this and I have made a decision.
My expertise when it comes to gambling is my own recovery. That’s all, nothing more and nothing less. There are others who can talk about the links between the gambling industry and the gambling recovery industry, about whether loot boxes in computer games are actually gambling or not (the consensus is that they are.) All of this stuff is not my forte and I can list the reasons why.
#1 My gambling was more or less, just fruit machines. I was gambling before online became a thing. Although I did go to casinos occasionally, I was much more likely to play the machines there than take part in the games. I don’t feel I have the experience to talk about other forms of gambling.
#2 It was all such a long time ago. As I said above – I was gambling before on-line gambling became as ubiquitous as it is now. Things have changed and moved on. I was not involved in FOBTs and I know little about newer forms of potential gambling such as crypto and forex.
#3 Researching into gambling doesn’t interest me. I have moved on. I am much more interested in travel and emotional and spiritual guidance issues. I find looking into gambling related articles and websites something of a chore.
#4 Researching into gambling is not good for my recovery. Even taking photographs around gambling establishments is a bit triggering for me and not something I want to do too often. I also get the algorithm advertising problem, in that when I check out anything to do with gambling then social media sites such as twitter and Instagram send me ads for gambling and gaming companies, which I then have to block.
#5 My audience isn’t growing. Because I don’t post often enough, people are not coming to the blog in great numbers and so I often feel I am just talking to myself. I hope what I have posted is useful – but there are other sites out there which are doing a much better job than me at making clear how horrendous having a gambling addiction can be.
#6 It is taking up too much of my time. There are other things I need to do. Keeping a blog is an expensive luxury and I am not sure I can really afford it (hence the review!) I have decided to keep going for another year though, but with the proviso that I need to be clear about my direction.
So what changes!
Well – I will probably be writing fewer recovery posts and more on travel and maybe other topics. The nature of the recovery posts will be very focused on what has worked for me and my well-being, in the hope that others could try some of the methods out or use the ideas as a springboard to find their own recovery strategies.
This also means that I get to write about some of the things which are meaningful to me – such as:
Counselling and Co-counselling, which has been far and away the best thing for helping me to work out the root cause of my addiction and means of dealing with it.
12 Step groups – in my case GA, Gamblers’ Anonymous – as a way of getting support.
Dancing and Walking – as a way of “mindfulness,” exercise, and feeling more connected to the world.
Tarot – as a way of connecting to my more spiritual side and reminding myself of the bigger picture.
Education – currently on-line courses for mental stimulation and to feel that I being useful with my time.
Art and music – being creative rather than being destructive with myself, my health and wealth through gambling.
I am also interested in the technique of dereflection, which comes from Logotherapy, the type of psychotherapy which comes from the work of Victor Frankl. The idea of this is to move obsessive thoughts about the self through to working with others. I am aware that the recovery part of the blog may have its origins in this … trying to find some meaning in the gambling that I pushed myself through for so much of my life. I have not compulsively gambled this century – and I have just worked out that I have been clean almost as long as I was compulsively gambling – around 25 years. Maybe it is time to say that it is over and I am now someone who does not gamble.
I would be interested in hearing from my readership on what you think of this plan, particularly from those of you who follow me for the recovery posts.
In the meantime I hope that this decision will mean that you will be hearing from me a lot more often than of late.
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Comments
Happy with your decision. And I appreciate you outlining your reasons. A good example of reflecting and redirecting. As I am not travelling much myself, I like to do it vicariously!
Hi Steev, I was interested to read your reflections on whether to continue or not with the recovery posts. As always, you have given it a lot of thought and have clearly expressed those thoughts. It makes perfect sense to put your energy where your passion is and to focus on travel and exploration of places, ideas and ways of being rather than on something that you tell yourself that you should be doing. Go well.
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