The day of my last 'job' as a sex worker.

I drove home to a house full of unpacked moving boxes.

Standing there, my body seemed to deflate in relief.

I did it.

Four months prior, I got out of jail, homeless, and began my sober journey.

The kids and I needed a home. With an eviction and four felony charges, renting seemed impossible.

By sharing my story on Facebook, I found a local owner who would rent to us, but it would cost a double deposit.

So, between drug treatment court, outpatient rehab, and waiting tables, I also became a masseur-for-hire.

I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Who are you?

I had lost myself to crystal meth addiction. And now, as a sober person, there had been no time to feel anything.

I had shoved every emotion and viable thought into some inner compartment to focus on one mission– to regain our lives.

I turned on the hottest shower possible and asked God to wash away the previous four months and four years prior.

If I were to stop to consider the things I had done to and with my body, I would have gone into shock.

I sobbed on my knees under the water.

I promised myself that I would remember who I was and become the man I was meant to be.

After drying off, the inspiration to draw came over me.

Oh yeah, I used to like to sketch.

A glimpse of who I was before the nightmare of addiction.

I dug out a pencil and paper, ran outside, and sketched the photo below. As the pencil moved across the paper, my latent identity began to flow.

This was the beginning of rediscovery. Waking up.

And it happened through creative expression.

And that is what this week's podcast is about with my friend, Cory Bortnicker. See the links for the pod below, as well as a study guide. Love you guys! Dallas 💚

Listen to the Podcast HERE.

Watch the Podcast HERE.

Podcast Study Guide

Creative expression can serve as a powerful tool in recovery from crystal meth addiction, based on Cory Bortnicker's journey of transforming his experiences through filmmaking and storytelling.

As a writer, filmmaker, and person in recovery, Cory's story demonstrates how creative pursuits can help us process trauma, reconnect with ourselves, and find meaning in our experiences.

The Power of Creative Expression

Creativity opens doors to healing that traditional talk therapy and journaling alone may not access.

As Cory's journey shows us, creative expression is a fundamental part of human nature, something many of us connect with naturally as children. When words fail us, artistic expression can bridge the gap between our inner experiences and outer expression.

During his recovery journey, Cory explored multiple creative outlets – from painting during his addiction to writing and filmmaking in recovery.

His experience demonstrates how, through various creative mediums, we can begin to make sense of our journey and transform our pain into something meaningful.

This transformation isn't just about creating art – it's about reclaiming our voice and our story.

Finding Purpose Through Creativity

The journey of recovery often leads us to question our purpose and place in the world.

Cory's breakthrough came when he realized his experiences could become meaningful art through his film project "My Name is Jonas" (password jonas2024).

This illustrates how creative pursuits can provide powerful motivation for recovery by giving us something meaningful to work toward.

Cory found that his desire to create became stronger than the pull of addiction, showing how artistic expression can help us envision and create a future that feels worth staying sober for.

By sharing our stories creatively, we heal ourselves and potentially help others who might see themselves in our work.

Spiritual Connection Through Creativity

Many people in recovery have had profound spiritual experiences that they struggle to understand or integrate.

Cory's experience shows how creativity can help us process these moments meaningfully. His work transforming the biblical story of Jonah into a modern narrative about addiction demonstrates how we can use creative expression to explore and honor our spiritual experiences.

Through his filmmaking, Cory found a way to explore questions of purpose and meaning that might otherwise have remained unexamined.

His journey shows how creativity allows us to transform our struggles into wisdom that might help others while helping us make sense of our own experiences.

Creativity offers a powerful path for processing trauma, finding meaning, and building a purposeful life in recovery.

As Cory's journey demonstrates, we can transform our painful experiences into something meaningful that might help others while helping ourselves heal.

His transition from addiction to creating impactful films shows how creative expression can give purpose to our pain and help us build a meaningful life in recovery.

Through his film work and artistic exploration, Cory shows us that our stories matter and deserve to be told.

Whether through painting, music, writing, or any other creative medium, we all have the ability to transform our experiences into something meaningful that might light the way for others while helping us heal ourselves.

Remember that you don't need to be a professional artist to benefit from creative expression.

Start where you are, with whatever form of creativity calls to you. Your story and creative gifts matter, and sharing them could be exactly what someone else needs to find hope in their recovery journey.

Love you guys! Dallas 💚

Reflective Questions

1. What creative interests did you have before addiction entered your life? Like Cory's early connection to music and storytelling, what passions might you rediscover?
2. How has your addiction journey given you unique insights or perspectives that could be expressed through creative work? Consider how Cory transformed his experiences into meaningful film projects.
3. What moments or insights from your recovery journey feel important to share with others? How might creative expression help you communicate these experiences?
4. When you think about creative expression, what fears or blocks come up? How might you begin to work through these barriers?
5. What aspects of your recovery story might help others if shared through creative means? Think about how Cory's work speaks to others in the recovery community.

Journal Prompts

1. Imagine your recovery story as a film, like Cory's "My Name is Jonas." What scenes would be most important to include? What message would you want to convey?
2. Write about a spiritual or meaningful experience from your journey that you'd like to explore through creative expression. How might art help you understand it better?
3. Describe a creative project that excites you. What steps could you take to begin bringing it to life?
4. Reflect on times when creating something helped you process difficult emotions. What did you learn from these experiences?
5. Write about someone who might benefit from hearing your story told through creative means. What would you want them to understand?

Action Exercises

1. Creative Rediscovery

• Make a list of creative activities you enjoyed before addiction
• Choose one activity to explore for 15 minutes daily
• Document how it feels to reconnect with this form of expression
• Note any insights or emotions that arise
• Share your experience with a trusted friend or recovery group

2. Story Mapping

• Create a timeline of your recovery journey
• Mark significant moments of transformation
• Identify themes or patterns in your experience
• Choose one moment to explore through your preferred creative medium
• Consider how this moment might connect with others' experiences

3. Spiritual Expression Project

• Inspired by Cory's approach to spiritual experiences
• Choose a meaningful moment from your journey
• Explore it through three different creative mediums
• Notice which medium feels most natural
• Develop the most resonant approach further

4. Creative Community Building

• Research local arts groups or recovery-focused creative communities
• Attend a creative workshop or class
• Share your creative work with one trusted person
• Connect with other artists in recovery
• Consider organizing a recovery-focused art share

5. Vision Development

• Create a vision board for your creative recovery journey
• Include images that represent your creative dreams
• Add symbols of the impact you hope to have
• Write a mission statement for your creative work
• Review and revise monthly