Today we’d like to introduce you to Eddie Martinez.
Hi Eddie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I became a drug addict just after graduating from college. I had a promising trajectory going for myself, and, in a way, I felt invincible. But Life would humble me, and I would lose the life I built, and friends I loved dearly, in my state of addiction. Today I’m grateful to be nearly 3 years clean from drugs, as I work with other addicts seeking recovery and producing media in a Texas border town.
In 2015 I was 22. I was fresh out of The University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree and life was unfolding as planned.
As I began to work, I found great friends with whom I formed deep bonds. We’d spend nights together that turned into mornings, and share meals with each other’s families. And, while it didn’t define our relationship, alcohol and soft drug use were always present. Some can drink or smoke cannabis like a normal person. I believed myself one of them.
Maybe I began to confuse chemical substances with the resonance of my relationships. Maybe I’m simply burdened with the disease of addiction. But eventually I sought more drug-induced experiences.
And, as if to offer me the red and blue pills of chaos and blissful ignorance of it, Life placed methamphetamines along my path, rendering me a choice all my own. I hadn’t sought it. I wouldn’t have done it had I known explicitly what it was. A new friend, who wasn’t part of my usual close circle, offered me a hit of what he would only refer to as “Tina”. I hesitated, refusing him once. But the offer lingered in my mind, until I figured I had enough experience altering my mind to jump into something a little mysterious and come out fine like every trip before.
I was wrong. And my first puff of crystal meth in 2016 set me on a 7-year course of self-destruction.
Addiction is like those bad dreams where you can’t control your body but you have to run away from something NOW. For seven years I would become progressively obsessed with the substance. It would degrade my mind, body, and spirit with each renewed decision to seek fresh, glimmering crystals rather than seeking help, or, by some miracle, an honest reflection of my condition, which grew outwardly addle-brained and anti-social.
By 2023 I would lose multiple jobs, the entirety of my savings, and friends who had become a chosen family.
There’s a common phrase, a belief, among the program of the 12 Steps of Recovery. “God can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.” I thank God that I have a family with the love and means to place me in an intensive treatment program when it became clear I couldn’t help myself.
As I write this, I am 2 years, 7 months, and 24 days clean. I feel joy and hope again, and I spread the message of recovery by leading bi-weekly support group meetings for still-suffering addicts who seek that same hope and peace. In the underserved Texas borderlands where no dedicated treatment centers exist, drugs have introduced a crisis. So I do what I can, which is tell of an attainable solution.
Professionally, I’m a storyteller. I studied filmmaking at UT Austin and translate that know-how into producing local news stories. Del Rio, TX is considered a news desert, a region void of daily newspapers and broadcast stations. Because media and storytelling play critical roles in a community’s identity, culture, and quality of living, I am formulating a solution in the form of a community-owned media foundation. It’s a vision still in infancy, but one that begs to be realized.
Day to day, a diligently conscious effort to self-regulate, rather than self-medicate, my emotional and spiritual health is a welcome exchange for a second-chance at life. Just like the descent into maddened addiction, the ascent to wellness is a progressive tick. Neither happen overnight. I have days when I don’t feel completely alright, and that’s alright, because I have the tools to turn those moments into data, and overcome rather than cope. And one day will be the first day of a complete and lasting inner peace.
I sometimes wonder if my old pals think of who I used to be, rather than who I became in the late stages of our relationship. Each day I feel an ounce more lucid and mindful than the last. So, one day, I’ll reach out to make amends, and, when I’m ready, I’ll get to tell the story of how I woke up from a really bad dream.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I struggled with not having practice asking for help. I think I experienced an odd intersection of having had little opposition and headwind throughout life, to suddenly facing something I couldn’t possibly overcome alone.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a filmmaker and video/photojournalist. I have reported local stories in Del Rio, TX as a digital video journalist for 2 years.
My stories have amassed nearly 2 million views online, and the success has poised me for expanding my career. I have a plan I’m adhering to that should put me in broadcast newsroom in a metro area in a couple years, or sooner (fingers crossed).
But in the meantime, I’m giving what I can to the border region, and my time recovering in Del Rio has truly been one of foundational growth as a storyteller. It’s where a fineness of human connection can be consciously tailored because of the general slowness of life. It’s a special skill tale-tellers have, and I’m grateful to be here for it.
What matters most to you? Why?
This question made me nervous laugh. Probably because I still don’t quite have an instinctive answer for it. My holistic health is my top priority. But I also care very much about how others feel, how I can serve others. I care about the stark media desert my current community suffers from being, and I care about telling stories to fill those information gaps. My dog’s happiness matters a lot to me; I show him as much love before his short life is fulfilled. And being a better son and brother for my family matters to me.
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