A memoir written by Costa Carastavrakis has been launched at Exclusive Books on 21 August. The book is called I am Costa – From meth to marathons, a memoir perfectly describing his battle with being a drug addict and having to come to terms with being homosexual in a time where it was considered taboo.
Having to grow up different was a difficult time for Carastavrakis. Having been the odd one out when he was younger made him take bad decisions at an early age. As Carastavrakis mentions in his memoir and also told Bloemfontein Courant, he started drinking at the age of 12. Trying hard to become somebody, the alcohol made him realise that being drunk felt nice.
The book is about how he went on a path of addiction to try not feel what was going on. It is also about a guy who just did not give up, worked hard, tried hard and how drugs got the better of him. “Feeling different, being bullied at a young age, gave me anxiety. I did not have many friends, I was lonely and I was very depressed as a child because of the bullying I went through at school,” he said.
Carastavrakis started taking hard drugs in his early thirties and it escalated from there. When normal drugs were not doing it for him any longer, he turned to crystal meth, which nearly killed him. Hence the title of his book, From meth to marathons. “I remember looking at myself and thinking that I am sure that I am meant for better things than this; this cannot be forever,” Carastavrakis said, adding that crystal meth makes you feel possessed, it takes over your life. “I wanted my life back.”
Carastavrakis said at the launch at Exclusive Books he got up one day to jog with his partner. He put on his tackies and started stretching. He managed to jogg for 700 metres and celebrated that small victory. He did little increments and never really aimed high but eventually, he one day ran the New York marathon.
Carastavrakis has been clean for 13 years and 4 months and has always lived by the quote “What other people think of you is none of your business”. Carastavrakis’s memoir is available from Exclusive Books, Loch Logan Waterfront. – Heidre Malgas
heidre@mahareng.co.za
