ABOUT ANDREW

Hey, I’m Andrew L. Hicks.

TL;DR VERSION

• Writer in recovery. Five years sober—seven from my drug of choice.
• I run JFRFN (Just for Right F*cking Now): one short email every morning—part meditation, part loving kick in the ass.
• MIU student. I study Creative Writing and Consciousness and Human Potential at Maharishi International University.
• Author of The Art of Being Human.

THE LONGER VERSION

My name is Andrew L. Hicks.

One time someone told me only douchebags use their middle initial in their name.

But listen. I spent the first 30 years of my life eaten up by addiction. Depression. Instability. I was a high school dropout. By every societal metric, I was a nobody, and I didn’t stand a chance.

So, lemme tell ya why I use my middle initial. When I finally got a GED in 2007, I was more proud of myself than you can imagine. I hung that shit right on the wall. That was the first time my name was ever written as “Andrew L. Hicks”—and the middle initial became symbolic: growth, change, maturity, metamorphosis.

Some years later when I went to college, it was a season of redefinition for me, of discovering new possibilities for my life. I received several awards, certificates, and eventually a degree: Most of ’em called me “Andrew L. Hicks.”

I published the first edition of my first book, The Art of Being Human, fresh out of college, still riding high on a sense that “I can do more in life than I ever used to imagine.”

Using Andrew L. Hicks as my author name was symbolic of growth, change, maturity, metamorphosis. Hell, before then I usually just went as Drew, so the joke was, I used to be so lazy I didn’t even wanna write my whole name.

But Andrew L. Hicks wasn’t a slovenly fuck; he was the real deal. Industrious, even.

Just kidding. As the industrious Andrew L. Hicks, I relapsed hard into my addictions in my mid-30s. The only way out was recovery. No half-measures. No excuses. I ended up a leader in my local Buddhist recovery community—first Refuge Recovery, then Recovery Dharma when our sangha made the switch.

As of 2026, I’m about five years clean, and I write daily emails to help other people stay that way—because sometimes, even “one day at a time” is too damn long.

What were we talking about again?

Oh, right. One time someone told me only douchebags use their middle initial..

Am I a douchebag? I don’t know. It’s not up to me to worry about if you think I am a douche or not. Your perception of me is none of my business. My main concern is to do the best job I can to be loving, fair, and encouraging toward you and everyone I meet.

I’m really into this weird little idea that we’re all in this together. All of us.

Some of what I do here: