The healing power of music 

The Journey is a rock musical written by Jim Savage that presents an inspiring message about overcoming challenges and achieving fulfillment in life. Initially created to tell a story about addiction and recovery, Jim used The Journey in his work with teens in substance use treatment. As work with The Journey evolved, it has become a substantial body of work that goes beyond addiction, as it shows that life is a spiritual journey that involves a similar process for everyone.

Popular among listeners of all age ranges and populations, Jim has been using The Journey to teach about addiction and recovery from the perspective of  psycho-spiritual development for over 30 years. Powerful songs that everyone can relate to, along with Jim Savage's considerable music talent, make The Journey a one-of-a-kind musical experience that touches listeners on many levels. 

The Journey Workbook: A Musical Path Around The Wheel Of Life

As a self-help tool for personal growth, The Journey provides a wealth of material to study through a companion workbook that opens the door to a broad spectrum of topics introduced through the songs from the program. The unique format of this program allows you to 1) experience the creative aspect of the music and imagery, 2) study compelling discussion pieces that bring the songs to life, and 3) process and apply the material as you find yourself in your own journey.

While each song from The Journey can be related to a specific aspect of the addiction-recovery process, it speaks to the overall process of becoming whole and finding fulfillment in life. In other words, you don't have to have a "problem" to identify with it. Topics addressed in the workbook include:

• Family of origin

• Developmental needs: psychological, social, spiritual

• Rites of passage

• Addiction and recovery

• Denial

• Switching addictions

• Codependency

• Finding our purpose in life

• Spirituality

• Personal Transformation

The journey to find yourself...

A closer look at The Journey shows that it is more than just a rock musical that sounds a lot like “The Beatles meet Pink Floyd”, rather, is a sophisticated body of work that offers an intriguing way of viewing life from several different perspectives.

A deep story

On one level, The Journey is one person’s story of overcoming addiction and finding a new life of happiness and fulfillment in recovery.

But it is more.

In the world of fairytales and mythology, it is the Hero who triumphantly returns to the kingdom, to be reunited with the King.

Or in the Native American tradition it is the Medicine Wheel, which shows that life is a continuous process of growth and change.

It’s all this and more.

The Journey is the story of Life. Your Life.

Find yourself in the songs, and watch your story unfold.

A closer look at The Journey

The Medicine Wheel  

“As I stand in the East, and the first rays of sunlight dance upon the horizon... I know that my journey is about to begin.” The opening narration of The Journey depicts the image of sun’s daily journey across the sky. From this perspective, The Journey is a musical portrayal of the Medicine Wheel—a Native American model that shows the cyclical nature of Life, a continuous process of growth and change. Each song of The Journey corresponds to a particular position on the Medicine Wheel, thus the title of the workbook- “A Musical Path Around the Wheel Of Life”.

The Hero’s Journey 

On another level, The Journey relates to the ”Hero’s Journey”, a common theme found in the world of fairy tales and mythology that can be seen as a sort of  “psychological roadmap” for personal development. Part I is the “Separation” stage, where the Hero is “separated” from the kingdom; we see the magic and innocence of childhood and subsequent loss of innocence. In Part II, the Hero’s “Initiation” is shown to be the challenges and ordeals we face as we travel our life’s journey.  Part III is the “Return”; just as the Hero triumphantly returns to the kingdom and is reunited with the King, we see that overcoming our challenges leads to spiritual reconnection, the reclaiming of our original wholeness, and ultimately, personal transformation.

Creating A Positive Mythology

Finally, the stage production shows how this plays out in real life, as it presents one person’s story of overcoming challenges and finding happiness and fulfillment in life. The power of The Journey lies in the fact that while it is one person’s story, it is everybody’s story, a powerful story to which everyone can relate. A “rock musical” along the lines of Tommy, Godspell, or The Wall, productions of The Journey are immensely moving experiences, as young people in recovery literally act out their own stories of overcoming addiction and other challenges in their lives and present a theme of hope and inspiration.

A Musical Story Of Recovery

The Journey is Jim Savage's own way of sharing his recovery story through music. As a collection of songs he wrote beginning in high school, he uses these to illustrate his own struggles with addiction and finding a new life in recovery.

In 1988 Jim suffered a relapse into his own addiction and wound up back in treatment for a third time, this time as a relapsed drug counselor.  And it was this experience—as painful as it was—that opened a new door into understanding the true meaning of recovery and personal transformation.

As an “impaired professional,” Jim was forced to step away from the treatment field and focus on his own recovery. And the only other thing he could do well enough to earn a living at was playing music. But going back into the clubs to play music did not seem to be a good idea for someone early in sobriety. So he got the idea of combining his musical ability with recovery. And that’s how The Journey was born. 

Jim initially went to treatment centers and played this set of songs as a way of sharing his own story. As he returned to working in the treatment field he developed an entire curriculum using The Journey as a creative way for treatment clients to learn about addiction and recovery. When Jim eventually opened his own adolescent outpatient treatment program, the facility included a theater space where where full stage productions of The Journey would be performed, which gave young people the opportunity to literally act out their own stories as a way of a carrying a message of hope and recovery. What began as one person's dark and painful experience has come full circle and become an powerful tool for helping others achieve happiness and fulfillment in their own lives.

Carrying A Positive Message 

From great musical entertainment to compelling therapeutic and educational material, The Journey bridges the world of the creative arts with the world of personal growth and recovery to carry a positive message and inspire hope—for individuals as well at a cultural level. The videos below provide examples of how this positive message is portrayed, as well as of some of the great music, rich imagery, and thought-provoking academic content that serve as the basis for this unique personal growth course. 

Chop Wood, Carry Water (live)

The final song of The Journey, Chop Wood, Carry Water is a celebration of recovery and spiritual renewal as our journey comes full-circle. On one hand, it could be regarded as an anthem for the 12-Step recovery program as it as chock full of familiar recovery slogans. However it's much more than that, as the lyrics present a rich palette of timeless spiritual principles and universal truths. Plus it's just a great show closer!

Beginnings

The opening scene from the stage production of The Journey depicts the Sun's journey across the sky as a metaphor for the spiritual journey of life. This short narrative piece contains a profound message about original wholeness, loss of self, and how the desire for connection often leads to self-defeating behaviors and further loss of self. But even as it foreshadows the "dark and dangerous places" that are to come, it simultaneously offers hope as it suggests that we will one day "return to this place where I feel connected, where I feel like I belong."

Overture

The opening musical piece to The Journey provides a great preview of what's in store musically as the show is about to begin. In the tradition of great musical overtures, it weaves together various musical themes from the songs of The Journey, and also showcases Jim's guitar work and the classic rock feel of the program. The images in this video are from the stage production, and provide a good sense of how key themes of the program such as childhood innocence, loss of self, periods of darkness, and the glory of spiritual renewal might play out in real-life scenarios.

The Progressive Nature Of Addiction

This video provides an example of the kinds of discussions we have as we process songs from The Journey. Here we are looking at the song "WIndowpane Night," which is used in the program to examine the topic of addiction. The fun, upbeat, "party" nature of the song is used to emphasize the idea that during the early stages of substance use it was perhaps fun, and certain needs were being met. But the song also effectively points to the progressive nature of addiction, and foreshadows more troubling times ahead. 

The Journey Workbook: A Musical Path Around The Wheel Of Life

The foundation of the course is The Journey Workbook, a 189-page illustrated interpretive guide to the music and imagery from the program. This is where The Journey moves from a "cool rock musical" to a unique exploration of psychological development and personal growth. The discussion sections take you through a unique process of relating to the songs, applying the material to your own process, and identifying where you are in your own journey. Topics include family of origin, transition from childhood to adulthood, the connection between addiction and spirituality, 12-Step recovery, finding our purpose in life, and more.  View Course Curriculum

From course users... *

"Helps me understand my recovery better"

"I can't decide what I like better about The Journey—the music or the workbook. The music is awesome—I'd listen to it even if it didn't have anything to do with recovery. But the other thing I love about it is how deep it goes with all the different ways of looking at recovery. It's not just all about 12-Step recovery, but it definitely helps me understand that part of my recovery better. 

Male, age 22

"Really helped me with the spiritual part of recovery"

When I was first getting sober I was turned off by all the talk about God. But then I started working through The Journey with my counselor and it helped me see spirituality in a different way. Now I'm really into it." 

Female, age 18

"Opened my eyes to what it means for me to begin my own recovery"

“As the parent of an adult child being treated for alcoholism, I was told I needed to go to Al-Anon and address my own family of origin history. Al-Anon just didn’t seem like a good fit for me, and I couldn’t understand how I had any issues to address from my own upbringing. Working through the material from The Journey gave me an entirely different perspective and opened my eyes to what it means for me to begin my own recovery.”

Male, age 53

"Excited about my future""

The best thing about this course for me was the workbook. By showing how the songs went around the wheel, and writing about how I related to the songs, I was able to see exactly where I am in my recovery and where I'm heading. It got me excited about my future and being able to grow more."

Male, age 17

"Absolutely brilliant"

The workbook you get with this course contains one of most fascinating approaches I've ever read for examining personal growth. The way it interrelates the Medicine Wheel with the Hero's Journey and applies this to real-life challenges of successful transition into adulthood is absolutely brilliant."

Male, age 51

"My story exactly!"

"On some of the songs I could literally relate to every line—they told my story exactly. That made me feel like I wasn't so different." 

Female, age16

"Helped me forgive my family"

"One of the biggest things I got from this course was recognizing that my parents were doing the best job they could with what they had. I learned through the songs that I have been hanging on to resentments and blaming them for my problems. This course does a really good job of helping me see the difference between recognizing the impact my family had on me and taking responsibility for my own actions and recovery." 

Female, age 32

"A musical version of The Hero's Journey. Love it!"

As a fan of Jungian psychology I was drawn to this course when I saw that it was based on The Hero's Journey. As I got into the program I was quite impressed with the creative blend of left-brain and right-brain approaches Jim uses to explore psychological development and how this relates to spiritual growth.

Male, age 42

_{* Names of testimonial providers withheld to protect privacy due to the sensitive nature of the content}

Included in the course: