Very simple instructions… Closets are for wire hangers, not for the human Soul. Hello again! This is your herpes virus speaking. I’m sort of using my buddy Carlos again to reach out to you in love. Yes, in L.O.V.E.! What, you think because I’m a tiny parasite I have no capacity to love, especially my host? Don’t get it twisted. Like Lady Gaga said: “I was born this way!”
But enough about that; I’m more of a Madonna fan, anyways. And yes, I am a bit queer, suffer from multiple personality disorder (I can be at least eight different versions of myself!), and have a tiny God complex: although you cannot see me, I am always there.
Okay. Seriously now. I’ve been bugging Carlos all afternoon about this post so let’s get going ...
When Carlos was first diagnosed back in the day, he went through Hell. I am sure you can all relate. It was hell for me as well, for it’s my ill fortune to have been classified a Sexually Transmitted Infection in a world that’s so freaking puritanical about SEX. Did you know that in England and Wales sexual herpes transmission in the absence of disclosure has been criminalized alongside HIV and other STIs? I mean, I can totally understand; disclosure before sex is a must in an effort to prevent transmission… but that the absence of STI disclosure is a crime? Holy Sh!t.
The word crime serves as perfect segue into what—as your friend—I wish to share with you… But it’s a bit of a secret. Sort of like Fight Club.
Two men, their names Dr. Bob and Bill W., revolutionized the world when they founded A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous). Dr. Bob and Bill W. loosely adopted Carl Jung’s process of individuation, peppered it with a little Higher Power, and created a program of recovery. Miraculously, over decades, this program has not only been effective to men and women suffering from alcoholism, but it has been adopted and reinvented to help people with sex, narcotics, gambling, and under-earning addictions (among others). It has also been adopted to help Persons with Herpes. You cannot imagine how much this thrills me!
Why am I thrilled that you’re potentially an addict? Well, because the recovery process involves the following:
- Admitting that one cannot control one’s addiction or compulsion.
- Recognizing a higher power that can give strength.
- Examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member).
- Making amends for these errors.
- Learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior.
- Helping others who suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.
I bet you’re saying: “There are other methods to recover from the SHAME herpes (me) instills in the person infected.” And you are right. Heck, Adrial has got a program that’ll knock your socks off! And from what I understand, he’s developing a Home Study Course for those who cannot travel to N.C. to experience Adrial’s magic first hand. I’m a FAN.
What I’m sharing with you can go hand-in-hand with Adrial’s teachings; in fact, it should. Ladies and Gents, I kid you not, sometimes it seems as if there is no cure or vaccine for ignorance. But there is! Education is just having an open mind and the willingness to explore the unknown.
Carlos sure does like to talk a lot about self-love this and self-love that. Yet he has not given much weight to the idea of service. Okay, so he writes pretty—big freaking deal—so did Hemingway. It’s in the extension of Self to help another who’s suffering where the magic happens. Oh but I can hear you bark at the idea of A.A. as a pathway to recovery! I can feel the A.A. stigma oozing through this laptop (and I haven’t even published yet). Go ahead! Bark all you want. Get it out of your system: “A.A. is a cult!” “A.A. is Christian brouhaha” “A.A. is for losers” “A.A. people are scary” “Hey, I don’t even drink!”
Bottom line is, we must have a spiritual awakening. In shame and loathing, as it is in drugging, boozing, and under-earning, We are spiritually bankrupt. Shame is cunning, baffling, and powerful. I (HSV) am just an extremely tiny parasite living in your body.
Hamlet said to Ophelia: “Get thee to a nunnery!”
Well, I (hsv) say to you: “Get thee to a meeting!”
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