Before Christmas we had the pleasure of hosting the absolutely hilarious and infectiously grateful Tim K., the mastermind behind Dank Recovery Memes. I had been following Tim for a few years now on social media and found myself constantly laughing at his recovery-based jokes throughout my sobriety. His sense of humor is pretty dark and inappropriate, but littered with shreds of truth, which is why I think his content has gone so viral.
Not so long ago I was in a place in life where the last thing I could do was laugh. I was hopeless, alone, and scared of the direction things were going. Everything of value in my life had been destroyed through addiction and I no longer felt an ability to crack a smile.
When I came to Jaywalker as a client one of the first things that stood out to me was the fun-loving sense of freedom that surrounded the community here. Clients and staff alike seemed to enjoy their experiences on and off campus and we’re engaged with life on a level I hadn’t felt in years. As I reflect back on my relapses before coming to Jaywalker, I can now see that I hadn’t made it a priority to pursue joy in a recovery-lifestyle. For whatever reason I had subscribed to an idea that life had to be boring and glum for the rest of my sober life.
I quickly learned that this morose and boring way of life was NOT the culture at Jaywalker. People explained to me that a person must be fundamentally satisfied with their sobriety or it will not last. That treatment is not a punishment, but an opportunity to re-create life. That the unapologetic pursuit of joy in recovery is real, and something to be prioritized. Ever since implementing these ideas into my everyday-life, my recovery has been revolutionized, resulting in inspired and action packed sobriety.
Earlier in 2019 I had formulated an idea to find a way to bring Tim from Dank Recovery out from behind his memes and into the mountains of Carbondale, CO. Selfishly, I simply wanted to meet him and hear him crack some on-the-fly jokes about recovery, but selflessly I wanted him to present to our guys why it’s OK to laugh at ourselves. My team was in full support of this idea so we put together some resources to make it happen. After I reached out to the Dank Recovery public Facebook page, in traditional recovery fashion Tim got in touch quickly and obliged our request.
Having Tim here was a blast. We swapped a ton of stories about addiction and recovery and got to know one another on a deeper level than I imagined. Tim shared his entire life story in front of a packed house, we laughed, we cried, and we all triumphed in his story of recovery and the blessings that have happened as a result of him seeking abundance in his life through the 12-Steps of recovery. He also did a more intimate presentation on his memes and the story behind Dank Recovery and how it’s exposure has helped addicts all over the word support their recoveries. We also learned about the term “Gallows Humor,” which is about finding the irony and humor in desperate or hopeless situations. Which was perfectly appropriate for a room full of recovering people. All in all it was an incredible three days hosting him and we are happy to have made a new friend.
In recovery we have a rule, it’s sort of an unwritten rule although I’m sure it’s written down somewhere, called Rule 62. It was instituted years ago in a group of recovering alcoholics in which they realized they needed something to help them not tear each other apart. Rule 62 says “Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.” Sometimes in life things are tragic, hopeless, and very scary. I’ve learned that I can work through almost any challenge with the right attitude, sober.
Griffin Jarzombek, CAC II
Jaywalker Lodge
