Shadowing Practice: Flea on drugs - addiction recovery - inspiration - RHCP - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
You know, I started getting high when I was 11.
2
And when I was about 15, I started shooting up.
3
I did every drug in the book until I was about 30 when I stopped.
4
I'm 57 now.
5
For me, you know, luckily, believe it or not, like through all my absurd and ridiculous behavior as a drug abuser,
6
I never got strung out.
7
Like I was never a junkie.
8
I always sort of had this something inside of me
9
that wanted to do things that were really important that stopped me from getting strung out or really becoming a drug addict.
10
I always, I skirted the line.
11
I hurt myself immeasurably.
12
It took me many years to recover.
13
It was terrible.
14
But I never got strung out.
15
And maybe I just don't have that addictive gene, you know and I have many, many friends, very close friends who died.
16
I have many of my closest friends who struggled forever with drugs.
17
And I know for myself that when I stopped doing drugs, I wanted to feel everything.
18
I wanted to feel my pain.
19
And all my life I've suffered from really bad anxiety attacks
20
and panic attacks and periods of immense insecurity and have a really hard time just loving myself for just being me.
21
And, you know, it's a work in progress.
22
But when I stopped doing drugs, I wanted to feel everything.
23
I wanted to feel all the pain, all the suffering, all the anxiety
24
because I knew that the only way that I was going to grow was to feel it.
25
And I know that we all yearn to be as deep as we can be, to be as kind and compassionate and as good as we can be.
26
And the only way to be that is to feel your pain and to sit there and let it wash over you.
27
And like now, you know, I'm not a religious man.
28
I'm not.
29
And when I'm hurting, but I believe in God and I pray.
30
And when I'm hurting and I feel terrible, I get on my knees and I say, Dear God, give me some more.
31
You know, thank you.
32
You know, I know nothing.
33
Thank you.
34
You know, help me.
35
And I know that within my suffering, well, I will grow, you know.
36
And for me, that was a huge thing to realize early on that I was going to deal with.
37
And you know, you stop doing drugs, it's hard.
38
Your nervous system's fucked up.
39
Your whole social life revolves around going out and getting high and doing drugs.
40
You have all these associations.
41
All your serotonins and dopamines and shit are wired to be high.
42
It's hard, you know.
43
It's fucking hard to stop.
44
It's hard to stop.
45
It's hard to feel everything.
46
But my only advice is to age gracefully is such a great aspiration to have.
47
And luckily, around that age, I wanted to age gracefully.
48
I wanted to be able to be an elderly person with a light on.
49
I wanted to keep growing.
50
I loved Duke Ellington.
51
I wanted to like try to keep reinventing, to keep like a...
52
Be a humble student all my life, you know?
53
So, I don't know, I guess my advice is to try to love yourself and to...
54
Drugs ultimately are pretty selfish, you know?
55
It's all about you and your pain and your world that you want to cut everything else out.
56
and I never thought like in doing my drugs I never
57
thought I was trying to get rid of pain I always
58
thought I was like this great explorer you know what I
59
mean I was like I had one up on the squares
60
I was like I saw the world as this hypocritical cruel
61
mean place you know I didn't like rich people I didn't
62
like these people I didn't you know I didn't trust anyone
63
and I thought like I'm doing drugs
64
and it was like woohoo you know I'm like I'm in this rarefied air now you know and And, but, like, it's really like,
65
it's just an old and pathetic story.
66
And the opportunity to be straight and to actually connect with people in true ways
67
and to be willing to feel lonely and to be patient enough to have, like, a real actual honest communication, whether it means, like, going to get a taco
68
and looking at the woman who gives it to you
69
and smiling at her and her smiling back
70
and you're actually sharing a beautiful moment like those are the little triumphs
71
that for me make not being on drugs the greatest thing.
72
So I don't know if that's a good answer or not.
73
I'm no drug counselor.
About This Lesson
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.