We are losing!!

We are losing our people to drugs.  We are losing our people to addictions.  We are losing our people.  And by "our people", I don't necessarily mean Indian people, or young people, or people with incredibly sexy ankles.... I mean we are losing our community. 

I slept in this morning, which was nice, considering the last few nights I was averaging about five hours of sleep.  I checked email, sent a few emails, read up on the news and of course opened facebook to get "the real news."

I started working (again) on editing headshots for work.  It is a slow process, which is fine...it will get done.  I got distracted, imagine that, and went back on facebook.  "Oh man, Amy Winehouse" a friend had posted.  What about Amy Winehouse, I thought?  She must be in the news again for drugs.  She often is. 

A few minutes later, more posts showed up.  "RIP Amy Winehouse," one read.  "A damn shame," another said.  "I knew I should have added her to my dead pool," my brutally honest friend wrote.

Amy Winehouse, helluva vocalist, dead at 27. 

What the fuck, people?  Where is our responsibility to our friends and family?  Granted, Ms. Winehouse was neither friend nor family to me..but she was to somebody.  If we see that someone is struggling with addiction (food, drugs, alcohol, or otherwise), when do we step in? 

I've recently been in the position of "concerned friend" and it took a long time to realize that even though it's scary, if you are truly worried about someone you care for...you need to step up.  I'd rather lose a friendship than lose a friend.  Does that make sense?  If I know someone is hurting themselves, I'd rather say something and risk having them hate me, than risk them losing their life. 

Last year, the Twin Cities lost a well known and respected rapper to a drug overdose.  After his death, a lot of people talked about what they "could have" done, or "should have" done.  I had a conversation with a new friend that summer about what our responsibility is...when do we step in and say "Hey, I love you, I care about you, and I'm worried about you." 

It's odd to me that the death of Amy Winehouse prompted me to write a blog.... I listen to her music, sure, but I've never had that "heart" connection to her.  I've felt bad for her in the past, but more so annoyed, because she was wasting her talent.

Drugs can really fuck up a life.  So can alcohol.  And eating disorders.  And depression, dependency, addiction, self injurious behavior, etc... It sucks.  I've had friendships and relationships suffer (or end) due to addictions, and it's a horrible feeling.  It's the worst ever to see a friend/partner/family member slowly take their own life.  And sure...from what I understand, addiction is beyond the control of the addict... but I think that folks on the outside, need to step up and step in to be with our friends and family who struggle with these demons.  We need to tell our people that we love them.  We need to show our people that we love them. 

I've got so many amazing people in my life; some of whom are struggling with addiction.  I will be damned if I let them become another statistic, another dead rapper, another Amy Winehouse.