With popcorn and soda in hand, my friends and I settled into our seats. The lights dimmed. Ghostly music filled the room, and Cate Blanchett’s narration surrounded us: “The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost. For none now live who remember it.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I was seven months sober from alcohol and crack cocaine, still struggling to remain abstinent. Despite going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, the cravings were overpowering, compounded by emotional turmoil in my personal life. I was an 18-year-old college student and couldn’t imagine life without drugs and alcohol.
But seated in the theater, watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, I was mesmerized. For three hours, I forgot about my troubles, instead cheering on Frodo and Sam as they sought to destroy the “One Ring to rule them all.” Much like the film’s ring, alcohol and drugs controlled me, despite the fact they were killing me.
