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Guy's Introduction

Photo of Guy Treadwell

Hi. My name is Guy Treadwell. I am 65 years old and have been married for 42 years. I have 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren. I have been working full time in geological mineral exploration and environmental engineering since I graduated from college in 1981. I play guitar and I knit for my hobbies. I like to rise early these days and make myself a nice pot of coffee and enjoy my morning. Really enjoy my morning. It hasn’t always been that way for me you know. My mornings were the worst part of my day. Waking up feeling like crap. Dreading the day ahead and dragging myself out of bed. Waiting for that first drink of the day really. The one to bring me back to what I figured made myself normal.

Well after drinking and smoking pot for most of my adult life and living in that hell for the last decade or so I packed it in. I gave it up. I decided to live my life authentically moving forward. How did I do it? With a little help from my friends. After reading Annie Grace’s book This Naked Mind I was on the internet one night, drunk and angry with myself as usual, when I stumbled upon an opportunity to join in a virtual group of people in a program called The Path June 24. The premise of the program? Provide content around stopping drinking, provide coaching events to discuss our drinking and to provide a platform to support and encourage ourselves. I figured what have I got to lose. I now know that joining that program and meeting that special group of people was one of the most important decisions in my life.

As I got more comfortable with this amazing group of people and coaches on the June 23 Path I began to joke around. I had a sense of humour without alcohol – who knew? I started to describe myself driving around Canada and the US in a school bus with me (of course) in the driver’s seat, grinding those gears, hands on the steering wheel, with a devil may care grin on my face. Driving and waving wildly as my school bus pulls up into unsuspecting “victims” driveways waving like an idiot. Here I would be in my school bus travelling all over the country. Picking up bus mates along the way with all of us waving like crazy people out the window as the bus travels down the highway. Waving at passers-by who have stunned looks on their faces thinking WTF. And of course, we would all be stone cold sober, living our alcohol-free lives and damn proud of it. It was fun to imagine, and I got a lot of mileage out of it – pardon the pun.

So what's next?

Logo for The Bus

Will a real bus materialize and become part of my journey as I move into retirement? Who knows? I mean what better retirement plan than to travel and meet up with friends along the way? Is it too much to ask of myself to dream? To dream of having an actual bus that I can travel the world or least North America and visit like-minded friends in my community. No way! After all, I'm a dreamer with a hell of an imagination. I always have been and really is there anything wrong with that? Nothing in my books.

So, in the meantime, before I purchase my bus and set out on my journey, I have this platform that my son Zenen helped me build. Hop on and join me while I virtually travel about. I was in the habit of providing early morning musings during my time on the June 23 Path and I will continue to do so daily. I will be sharing a story a day.

Here’s my truth. I’ve travelled so far in my virtual bus already. I’ve left the drinking and the dope smoking behind. And along the way I have met so many amazing people on my journey - both virtually and in person. It looks like the first leg of my journey, the June 23 Path, has come to an end. The thing is I’m not ready for the journey to end and I’m not prepared nor willing to leave all my friends behind. We are all connected now, and I truly believe that it helps each and everyone of us to work together and keep it that way. If you choose to journey with me, we are going to advance our authentic selves. We are going to share our stories – happy and sad. We are going to support one another without judgement. Will there be advice given? Only when it is asked for.

Know that we can enjoy ourselves without alcohol or artificial stimulants friends. Remember, we did it as children, right? We had fun hanging with our friends, climbing in trees, riding our bikes, playing hide and seek. Swimming in the summer and tobogganing in the winter. My goal is to help us rediscover the childhood joy we found in participating in these childhood activities.

Do you want a seat on my bus? Do you have some stories, some experiences to share? Look no further. Let’s create a space where we can express ourselves and move on in our shared experience, lives and relationships. There’s no timeframe and no end to our journey. Can we make it happen? Well, I can have hope, can’t I?

Hope over doubt. Always.