September is National Recovery Month: A perfect moment for love, journalism’s inaugural guest essayist: Taylor Six, the founder of the Journalists Recovery Network.
Taylor and I also taped an upcoming episode of The love, journalism Show. You’ll want to stay tuned for that. - Darren
Nearing the end of 2021, I was coming to the realization I wanted to do something different with my drinking and drug use. There was a constant, nagging feeling that something I kept getting away with was going to result in my name splattered across headlines announcing I died, killed someone, or ended up in jail.
And it would be one of my coworkers writing the story.
I was living a double life for years as an award-winning journalist by day, and a down-bad drunk at night. A heavy weight sat on my shoulders as I constantly looked over them with the fear of being caught. Even worse, I thought someone would try to confront me about my drinking. I worked long hours at my local newspaper, and even longer hours when I shut down the bar each night in a drunken stupor.
But on the night of December 12, 2021, another bar regular looked at me and said, “You think you are special because of what you do for work, but you are just an alcoholic and addict like the rest of us.”
I went into Alcoholics Anonymous the next day and later discovered I had an identity problem. Instead of journalism being my job and something I was passionate about, it was my entire identity. Trying to grapple with the idea that I was just a human being that also struggled with addiction was hard and took me years to actually confront and accept about myself. Even more personal, it was easier to let people get to know me as “the journalist” than it was for them to actually know me as a person (yuck). But truth be told, I didn’t know myself as a person.
As I was going through my program, I felt alone and isolated with misguided thoughts that no other journalist ever dealt with something like this before. Man, what a false idea that was.
In 2024, I launched the Journalists Recovery Network, now a non-profit that supports journalists struggling with alcohol and substances or are in recovery. My initial idea was to let other people know that they weren’t alone if they decided they wanted to get help.
What was wonderful about my expectation, was that it only scratched the surface of what I would learn; including how many journalists and media workers live with addiction everyday and navigate this industry.
As part of creating the Journalists Recovery Network I’ve had the incredible opportunity to meet other journalists in recovery who are essential to my support system in the industry and staying sober.
As a group we have attended conferences, spoken on panels, and we offer a community of like-minded individuals as a means of support. We do not promote any form or method of sobriety, and some of our group’s members are not sober. Simply put: The group is there for you if you want support and can connect you with existing resources.
I’ve learned that other journalists struggle with the same problems I did. They think they are alone or they don’t know how to have boundaries with work to the point it’s enmeshed in their life. This industry itself can be like an addiction – all consuming and detrimental to our wellbeing.
But I have been taught there are other journalists who struggle with experiences that I didn’t. Some don’t know how to interact with sources after getting sober. Some are weary of booze-heavy conferences. Many of us don’t possess positive coping mechanisms that promote a good work-life balance.
We hope other journalists know about our group so if they, or a coworker, need support, they can certainly reach out. Even if they don’t, I just hope that other journalists who may be struggling with alcohol or substances know that they aren’t alone.
Today, I am defined by much more than my job. I am defined by more than my addiction. I am a fiancé, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a mentor and friend. I love to cook, bake, read, sew, and garden.
Above all else, I have learned I am a human being, too.
Taylor Six is founder of the Journalists Recovery Network and a crime and courts reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
