Ray of Hope
By Sedric R. Johnson
Spotlight on Recovery…. I guess I could say just that. This magazine, for me, was a Godsend and my saving grace — in every sense of the term. At a time in my life, when my incarceration effectively robbed me of my self-worth as I teetered on the brink of utter despair.
Imagine being in a place where self-improvement is spurned, any form of education is systematically frustrated, while the silent promotion of every despicable way to mistreat a human is facilitated. As the image becomes incipient in your head, what you’ll see is DOC! The last thing I thought I’d ever want or need, was to continue to live. Especially in a place that proactively debilitate their detained population rather rehabilitate them. I was mentally, spiritually, and emotionally bankrupt. Blanketed with malaise, ravaged by despair, I was a man who thought he should speak out against this brand. However, I lacked the stage, the microphone, the audience – I lacked the Spotlight. My voice and my will to speak was hushed, by my perceived circumstances.
My emotions and my thoughts became volatile sans a viable conduit for egress. It boiled within me like magma simmers beneath the surface, searching for an outlet to expel the convection – – yet I will know none and it would be this way for me for years, brooding, seething due to the lack. Fortunately, all would change as the pray for hope lance thru the somber cloud and opaque darkness that had become my dwelling. It found me waiting and ready, lusting for that spotlight of hope that would ultimately pave my wend to recovery.
That light became me in 2012, and was aptly named, “Spotlight on Recovery,” no longer a guess but a fact that had shown its nurturing light upon me. I had never realized how dangerously close I was to my demise – and with it, the death of everything I would ever write i.e. 12 years later, “Dear Mr. President”, “Marriage …A Binding Vow,” “Burn the Boat,” to name a few. But such work and others like them, Spotlight on Recovery has graciously showcased within its pages. The result was that the once dilapidated and nearly razed form of myself seen the breaking of new ground. This new platform, lead to the reconstruction and resurrection of a better me. I was rejuvenated and I was given a new lease on life. I gained a new perspective that enabled the restoration of all that was taken away from me. I witnessed the rise of self-esteem; the return of my self-worth, the cadence returning to my creative voice, and freedom, unspeakable freedom of expression in the one way that would and has become my passion – I would write!
Spotlight on Recovery is the epitome of the adage.
“Each one teach one, Teach one to reach one.”
The light that emanated from the pages of this magazine reached me, drawing me back from the brink, giving me a second chance – and in turn taught me to pay that second chance forward. The vicissitudes of life can never be so bad that one loses all hope, or permit hope to die. It must be kept alive at all cost and between the covers of a Spotlight on Recovery mag., one can find the galvanizing power of hope. One can find answers to perplexing questions. One can find a connection with a kindred spirit – perhaps one who’ve survived a similar struggle or plight that found you teetering on the precipice.
This magazine isn’t solely a beacon for those lost in the bedrock of strength for the weak. But more so a reviving source that can transform those once in need of light, to be light themselves. Those once mired by impotence, are not only strengthen, – but become a source of strength for those bereft of it. Such is what Spotlight on Recovery has been for me.
I like to ardently thank this publication and the Executive Publisher, Ms. Robin Graham for shining the spotlight that gave my voice an outlet, a forum for expression, which lead to my personal recovery.
Sedric Johnson has been a contributing writer since 2014. I’ve asked him to collaborate with me on an upcoming book. Title and publishing date will be mentioned at a later date.