I Am Costa
Writer shares journey to drugs and back
MBOMBELA - Costa Carastavrakis calls his book,
I Am Costa: From Meth to Marathons, “my self-exploration journey to a place called me”.
The book was launched in July and Carastavrakis is currently touring the country to tell people more about his journey. This included a trip to Exclusive Books at i’langa Mall on Tuesday evening.
Carastavrakis spoke not only about his journey, but read passages of his book too. He said his journey started when he was a young Greek boy who did not fit in, and that made him feel ashamed.
He felt that shame in many instances in the rest of his life, “and that is the shame that also nearly killed me”, as this is what led him to his drug addiction. “But I started making meaning out of that shame.”
After Carastavrakis recovered from his addiction, he started running marathons, “and even though recovery was slow at the beginning, I decided to create the best version of myself that I possibly could”.
During Carastavrakis’ talk, he became very emotional when he told the audience that he had dedicated his book to his friend, Jono. “I was his sponsor in recovery. Jono died four years ago of an accidental overdose, when his daughter was only six months old.”
Another emotional moment was when a member of the audience asked him what his biggest regret was. “My biggest regret is not telling someone earlier about how much pain I was in.”
Look out for a giveaway of I Am Costa: From Meth to Marathons on Lowvelder’s Facebook page.