It’s time again for my monthly competition for your attention and the competition is STIFF. 

There are so many messages coming at you from podcasts and TikToks and movies and sound bytes and emails and texts and robo-calls and flyers and billboards and bumper stickers and posters and pithy sayings on overpasses and protest signs and tee-shirts and network news stations and Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and Truth Social and Bluesky and printed on the inside of a candy wrapper or cough drop or on the outside of an Amazon delivery box or painted on an autonomous driving car or at the bottom of the free game you’re playing to get away from all of the messages.

How am I supposed to compete with that? I’m just a human. Just one flawed, distractable, recovering addict with ideas that you’ve heard before such as:

Hang out with nice people. Be kind. Look up more. Smile. Hug. Breathe. Go the the water. Meditate. Pray. Eat nutritious food. Talk to a tree. Feed the poor. Believe in yourself. Paint. Sing. Wear comfortable shoes, unless you’d rather be barefoot. Smell a flower, unless you’re allergic. Pet an animal, unless you were traumatized by that animal and still aren’t over the trauma. Go to therapy. Forgive. Set and maintain boundaries.

What am I going to tell you that you haven’t already heard? 

What can I say that you can’t Google or ask ChatGPT? Alcohol isn’t very good for human bodies. Heroin is very addictive and no one should ever use it recreationally. Taking in more calories than your body uses will result in weight gain. Vaping injures the lungs. The casino always wins. You know this. I know this. Everyone knows this. How many different ways can it be said?

I could gather a choir of adorable children to sing it to you, but you’d really only listen for a few moments before scrolling to a video of that guy who smacks his adorable French Bulldog on the butt while the dog yips out joyfully for a few minutes. I could project these messages on the side of the tallest skyscraper, but you’re only going to register the idea briefly as you drive by on your way to grab some dinner or get back home so you can do laundry for tomorrow.

I’ve got up to 800 words to try to get your attention and all I really have as a bargaining chip is your relationship with me. There are a few people who have known me for the entirety of my 58 years on this planet and that number grows smaller every day. I don’t believe any of them read these articles, ever. Oh, sometimes, when I write one with which I’m particularly impressed, I might cut it out and send it to an aunt or a cousin, but even then, I really can’t be sure they read them. I think they’re just impressed I’m “in the paper.”

Some of the people who write for and advertise in this publication have known me for up to 27 years. Are they even reading this? I have no idea. Let me know if you are. Let me know what you need to read here and I’ll write that next month. (I take requests!)

To the long-term reader of Together Arizona, who even are you? What brings you back to the paper month after month? What made you read my article today? How did this break through all the other noise and garner your attention? I’d seriously like to know. Call me at 602-770-7100 and leave me a voice mail. I keep the ringer off to avoid being interrupted by relentless requests to buy my house or vote for a candidate or purchase an extended warranty, but if you leave a voice mail, I will listen to it.

To the first-time reader of Together Arizona, Hello. I’m guessing you might have read this far because you’re stuck somewhere with no phone, no one to talk to, and nothing more exciting to do. If so, I don’t think I’d be wrong to assume that you might not be overjoyed about being in this situation. However, please know that if this paper is the only message that is able to get to you right now, you’re probably exactly where you need to be. Take a deep breath and get ready for the great adventure of recovery.

And, to Barbara Brown, the one and only person nearly guaranteed to get to the very end of this article, thank you for being here and carrying on your mission to be a beacon of hope and to publish Together Arizona Newspaper as “real recovery for real people,” which, by the grace of a Higher Power, still includes me.

—  About Dr. Marlo Archer — 

Having enjoyed 30 years providing mental health services to kids, teens, and parents, Dr. Marlo Archer is now focused on educating, training, and mentoring health professionals, primarily employing Deliberate Practice methods to teach Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy to the next generation of healers. 

Learn more at https://www.AzPsychodrama.com