What Can We Learn From Anthony Bourdain
Chef, Prolific Writer, and Recovering Addict
If you haven’t heard already, Anthony Bourdain took his own life last week. If you were a fan, you know Bourdain had struggled with many different vices throughout his life. Yet despite these vices, we learned about cuisines across the world. Perhaps now, there is something we can learn from him about addiction as well.
The Service Industry Is a Rough Place for Recovery
If you don’t know the service industry very well, it can be extremely competitive. With people working very hard, few put it as elegantly as Bourdain himself when he said,
“Restaurant life is not good for you. It’s not a healthy workplace for chefs. People are talking about it now… The whole ethic was who can go longest, who can go hardest, who can stay up all night, double shifts … who can burn at both ends brightest.”
This is a lot of times where drugs come in to play. When you have been going as hard as you can, and you need an edge many cooks turn to drugs to keep going. That coupled with the fact that many service industry workers end the night with drinks can make it a hard place when you’re in recovery.
Great Things Can Be Achieved After Addiction
One of the hardest steps for anyone in recovery is going back to everyday life. Just because you get clean doesn’t mean life gets easy. Life still has twists and turns and Anthony Bourdain knew that. He said himself he never expected to become famous,
“I should’ve died in my 20s. I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s, I feel like I’ve stolen a car—a really nice car—and I keep looking in the rearview mirror for flashing lights.”
We can Never Stop Growing
As many who have recovered from addiction can tell you, sobriety is only the first step on a long journey. While Bourdain may have never said that, if you followed his work you knew how he felt about growing and travel,
“I know that I will never understand the world I live in or fully know the places I’ve been. I’ve learned for sure only what I don’t know—and how much I have to learn.”
His outlook on travel and life can teach us a lot about progressing in life, addict or not. Life is a journey and we learn as we go. Being idle or stagnant is hell and a loaded gun for an addict. By pushing forward and continuing to grow, we can achieve more and reach those highs by living life, not by being under the influence.
As a fan of Bourdain, my heart goes out to all those affected by his death, especially his family and his thousands, if not millions of fans. His voice and the stories he told will be sorely missed.
