hey Sir, I've been a fan of your art since the /Fit comics; your artstyle and comedy shaped who i was in high school and influenced my art to what it was today.
iirc, you had been into weed for some time and had cut back on it. I am a chronic weed smoker and have a hard time kicking the habit and I've near abandoned art all together. Any time I've brought it up to people they would just belittle the problem or ignore me so I figure you might have some advice on quitting?
"Into weed for some time" is sadly an understatement. I was using several times a day, every day, for the better part of the last 10-13 years or so. I have no "control" version of my life to compare it to, but I have a MASSIVE amount of regret tied up in the belief that my life trajectory could have been enormously better if I had redirected the time, money and energy I spent on weed into other things. I can never get my youth and those opportunities back.
(quick aside: I'm most certainly the sort of person who would have those kinds of thoughts even if I had remained a teetotaler, but that's another rant entirely)
That having been said, focusing on those negatives never helped me quit (at least not for very long). My current stretch of sobriety is only 2.5 months in, so I have no way of saying that it's going to stick, but given that my general desire/temptation to use is noticeably diminished compared to my last attempts, I suppose I can impart some advice that seems to be helping now:
Having too much free time (mainly being underemployed and sad) is a death sentence. Though I was still able to maintain the addiction and remain employed at my sedentary animation job, this last stretch has been complemented by a day-job that A.) Requires me to wake up at 3-4 AM at least twice a week and B.) Keeps me on my feet all day. I've also been getting back into doing SOME form of exercise every day, so that means that I have very little in the way of "fucking off" time between shifts, most of which is spent slowly chipping away at ancillary hobbies/pursuits.
Given that I have a chip on my shoulder about perceived lack of status and squandered time/potential, I elect to sublimate those feelings into a desire to keep moving, figuratively and in many ways literally. I also try not to lose sight of all of the things weed has taken from me, and all of the things that sobriety is giving me. It is a tremendous weight off your shoulders to realize that you've become the sort of person who doesn't have mental real estate being taken up by insecurities and anxieties about being a user (of whatever vice you know you're leaning on).
I am by no means perfect, and I still have many "undesirable" habits and thought patterns that I'd like to cull, so please take my advice with a grain of salt. If you find that you absolutely can't maintain sobriety yourself, don't be afraid to seek assistance. There are plenty of support groups and services that will take your problem as seriously as you do (and should, especially since you're trying to stop).
I really wish I had better/more salient advice, as my current stretch of sobriety is truly an outlier amongst my previous attempts (less temptation, less irritability), but I'm afraid it is ultimately something that you have to decide for yourself, over and over and over again.
Good luck and keep moving.
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
