JW
John Wayne's Story
John Wayne is an American Orator, Singer, and Songwriter in recovery.
After years of alcohol and substance abuse, John Wayne began to turn his life around when he was incarcerated at the Worcester County House of Corrections in Massachusetts. Now five years sober, John is a Teaching Artist/Songwriting Instructor for OpporTUNEity Music Connections and shares his passion for music-making and recovery with audiences across the east coast.
Active Addiction
Recounted by John Wayne
When I was an active drug addict/alcoholic, I felt totally raw. I was covered in scabs and soaked to the bone in dirty, tattered clothes. I was so hurt that I hurt everything I came into contact with. I was reckless to myself, to friends and family and I didn't care about anything other than "finding ways and means to get more." I never expected to get my life together. I was homeless, heartless, helpless, hopeless, and completely estranged from anyone/anything I had ever loved, not because they didn't love me, but because I was a complete liability to be around.
I was sick and suffering with everything I owned inside of a backpack, thinking to myself "Man, things couldn't possibly get any worse." And guess what? Things got worse.
In 2019, I was incarcerated at the Worcester County House of Corrections in Massachusetts. This wasn't my first time in jail, but it was the time I surrendered. For months, I was shaking and shivering, rocking and rolling without a wink of sleep while my body was purging itself from a decade of heroin and alcohol abuse.
During my incarceration, the miracles began. I was inspired by my friend Derrick Kiser when he came into the jail with his Fresh Start 508 organization and I made the difficult decision to stop gang-banging and give up a life I had lived for so long.
I spent much of my time in prayer and meditation. I read dozens of books. Then, suddenly, a chance to join a songwriting class became available. Music became available to me from within the iron bars and razor wire fencing. Through the power of the OpporTUNEity Music Connections songwriting program and the Worcester County House of Corrections' Short S.T.O.P. Program, I began my recovery.
An unexplained phenomenon. A series of complicated events and sacrifice. A gift of sobriety. A miracle. Now I had the incentive. To me, an incentive is the lever that moves people into action.
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After 15 months behind bars, he was released on parole in early April 2020. Through the help of Pastor Janice Ford and her team, as a former alumni and beneficiary of the program, he wound up with a seat on the board of directors at the Reconciliation House Inc. sober house. It was also at this time that he found his place on the local recovery scene.
"Once I managed to get sober I decided that it was time to chip away at getting a place of my own and re-attaining my license.
I balked, because I did not want to do the work. I was afraid of what I might find; afraid of the person that I was AND afraid of the person that I might become. So, reluctantly, I began to embark upon this chapter in my life called: Clearing the Wreckage of the Past."
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