Today we have Dave and Chris joining us on The SHAIR Podcast. Dave and Chris are the podcast duo that host the Dopey Podcast. The Dopey Podcast is the podcast about drugs, addiction, and dumb shit. It takes you through the dark comedy of drug addiction. Recorded in New York City, it’s a meeting after the meeting.

Join us now as Chris and Dave takes us through their battle with drugs and alcohol and their inspirational journey of recovery.

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Listen to the Dopey story now!

Here are a few highlights from our interview to get the full story please join us on the Podcast now!

Omar: What is the best suggestion you have ever received, Chris?

Chris: The best suggestion that I’ve ever received, it’s just basically listening to somebody else. Just getting out of my own way and listening to somebody else.

Omar: Dave, what’s the best suggestions you’ve ever received?

Dave: Grow the fuck up. Grow the fuck up and be honest, and be true to yourself and who you’re supposed to be. I mean, I don’t know if that’s really a suggestion. The suggestion is always be open to being honest. And I agree, listen. Those are key suggestions.

Omar: Do you guys have any favorite books that you recommend to newcomers?

Chris: I read the book Siddhartha like every three years, probably. You can read it in a day.

Omar: Siddhartha’s one of my favorite books.

Chris: And it’s a good journey. I think it speaks to the journey that many addicts and alcoholics have. But Drop the Rock, read the Big Book, or if you’re a basic text guy, read the basic text.

Omar: Dave?

Dave: I recommend Crash and Burn by Artie Lange, the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the basic text, the Big Book. I like Drop the Rock. I really loved the The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. That is a beautiful book about spiritual centeredness, and that guy Thich Nhat Hanh can fucking write. He’s good.

Chris: If you have trouble going to sleep, listen to the audiobook, the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. And then Eckhart Tolle, if you just hear him talking, it puts you to sleep in two seconds.

Dave: That shit’ll put you out. Oh, Junkie by William Burroughs is a good book. I like that book a lot.

Omar: So if you could give our newcomers only one suggestion, what would that be, Chris?

Chris: I’m just gonna reiterate what I said to you before. If there’s any sort of positive self-care intervention, I don’t care if it’s long-distance running, exercising, do it and explore that as much as you can. I go on these meditation retreats called Vipassana Meditation Retreats, and there’s this guy named S.N. Goenka that plays discourses. He talks about different spiritual teachings, right? And he says it’s like digging a well. What a lot of people do is they dig this well, and they start digging and they’re trying to get to the water. The water’s the spirituality, the sustenance, and they wanna drink the water, and they start digging it.

When they’re like a foot or two away from the water, the may look over across the street and they’re like, “I think that’s a better spot to dig a well,” and they go and start digging a well over there. When they start digging and digging, and right before they hit the water, the spiritual nourishment, they see another spot they think is better and they go start digging somewhere else. So my suggestion to a newcomer is whatever it is you’re willing to do, dig that well until you hit the water. If you don’t like the taste of that water, go try a different place.

Omar: Boom, man, Chris is on fire. Big Dave, if you could give our newcomers only one suggestion, what would it be?

Dave: Give up. Throw your hands up, give up, and sit the fuck down and listen. Just give up. It’s done. Just give it up. I remember when I was a kid, I interviewed … I was high on heroin and I was interviewing the rock band Ween. I was working for this college cable company that was owned by Lorne Michaels and I felt like a very big deal. I went to go interview Ween, and I was high on heroin, and they were drunk and high as shit. They were just a mess. I was like, “So Ween, if you have anything you wanna tell the kids about what to do in terms of your dreams and your goals, what would it be?” And Dean Ween, who was like the best guitar player and the coolest looking guy, he just doesn’t give a shit, he goes, “Let the dream die.”

I think in some ways, give up, surrender, this thing isn’t real, there’s something to it. When he said that, I was like, “You’re a dick,” but in reality, surrender is real. I think it’s real. I love dreaming. I’m the biggest dreamer, but you have to have the right dream. It’s a weird kinda mystical thing. That old dream, the dream that got us all into recovery podcasting, was the wrong dream, and now the right dream is to help the next guy and to give it to them as best we can.

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Disclaimer – The opinions shared on this show reflect those of the individual speaker and not of any 12 step fellowship as a whole and though we discuss 12 step recovery and the impact it has had in our lives we do not promote or endorse any 12 step anonymous program.