#postaweek

By: Marc McMahon There’s a contradiction happening in cities like Eugene, Oregon that’s so blatant it almost feels intentional — a system that performs compassion with one hand while manufacturing criminality with the other. It looks progressive from a distance. It sounds humane in a meeting room. But on the street, where the rain hits the concrete and people are just trying to survive the…

By: Marc McMahon You know, I was sitting in my living room after having a chat with my mom last night, and my mind wandered off on its own like it does sometimes. Except this time, it took me to a place I didn’t know existed. I mean, not really. I had never been there before. It was a place where all you could see is your mom and your life, all of your life, including the parts you are ashamed…

By: Marc McMahon I wasn’t even looking for a fight this week, you know? That is the thing that still completely blows my mind and makes me just sit here shaking my head, because I wasn’t trying to dig up old graves or drag the ugly past back into the light. I was just doing my breathing, just moving my body and trying to stay locked into this quiet, good life I’ve been building out here in…

By: Marc McMahon If you woke up behind a dumpster with your kid’s birthday present receipt stuck to your palm, the one you bought and returned an hour before his party just to scrape together enough to get high, and you just laid there for a minute because standing up meant facing the version of yourself you swore you’d never become but somehow did anyway. Then you already know this isn’t a…

By: Marc McMahon As I sit at my desk, hands folded and head tilted back, pondering the meaning of life and my existence on this planet, a thought hit me. It wasn’t a quiet suggestion; it was a real “Captain Save-a-Ho,” Here comes Superman-kind of whisper from my soul. It said: “We should make Narcan available for free everywhere.” I recently watched a documentary highlighting my hometown,…

By: Marc McMahon The title makes this story sound like it’s going to be about one of the USA’s standout moments in history, where we fought to uphold the rights of a weaker or less fortunate nation. Where we put our lives on the line to defend our children, democracy, and basic human rights for all. But this is not that, nope. But I wish it was. I remember the fire. I remember the version of me…

By: Marc McMahon If you’re new here, welcome. Pull up a chair in the mess. This space isn’t about perfection, purity, or pretending you’ve got your shit together while everyone else is still bleeding. It’s not about cramming yourself into someone else’s shiny definition of “recovery,” the one where you wake up one day, halo intact, never craving again, reciting serenity prayers like a robot.…

By: Marc McMahon Let’s be honest: most people who talk about “shadow work” make it sound like some mystical spa treatment for the soul. Light a candle, journal a little, cry once, boom, you’re healed. That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not what saved my life. And that’s definitely not what’s going to help the ones like us. The tried‑everything, but nothing has worked yet, recovery folks…