I quit alcohol in May 2021. I had one last night out to drink (and throw up) everything I wanted, and then I cut it out completely. But why such a drastic maneuver? Let’s rewind. Since my first sip back in 2008, I knew it would be a problem. I always liked the taste, the…
My life isn’t polished, but it’s mine—and I’m actually in it. I believed it. I believed hard. That if you just made it through the messy part (college, the party girl years, that weird phase when you treat matcha like a personality trait), you’d arrive in the land of being figured out. You’d have a…
Q&A with award-winning filmmaker Josh Woll This series showcases conversations with experts who are sober themselves and working in the recovery space. Today’s edition features Josh Woll, an award-winning filmmaker and mentor with nearly 20 years behind the camera. Through The Sober Creative, he guides fellow creatives on their journey to sobriety while nurturing creative potential and business growth….
Four years and a lifetime later SOME DAYS Some days it will take every ounce of your courage and other days it will feel like you never lived any other way Some days you might miss it and other days you can’t believe there was ever another way of being Some days it might feel…
Welcoming all parts of ourselves Want to hear Ellie read this article? Listen here The power of “I am” I used to think that I was my emotions. I thought that the thing I was feeling and “me” were one and the same. I would think and say: “I am sad” or “I am stressed” or “I…
“It is never too late to start this journey, and you will be giving yourself the greatest gift ever.” This series showcases personal stories of addiction recovery and sobriety. Today’s edition features Carolyn Clark, a 62-year-old grandmother who, after drinking for 40 years, quit alcohol just after her 58th birthday and changed her life. Carolyn lives…
Sober people share the strategies that got them through wine o’clock Before quitting alcohol, I’d make my way through difficult, dread-inducing times by leaning into the mantra: Well, at least there’ll be wine with dinner. Envisioning that full glass of red at the end of the day brought renewed-if-false energy and a sense of relief. And…
When I removed addictive substances, I didn’t lose my creative edge—I found it. While substances promised me liberation, they actually constructed invisible barriers between myself and my most authentic work, masking emotional depths that fuel meaningful creativity. Sobriety has created spaciousness in both my mind and body, allowing my natural creative rhythms to emerge without…
Q&A with author, TEDx speaker, and educator Samantha Perkins This series showcases conversations with experts who are sober themselves and working in the recovery space. Today’s edition features Samantha Perkins, an author, TEDx speaker, and educator. Samantha works with women and teens to help them break free from alcohol culture. In her influential workshops, she encourages people to identify…
“The program saved my life then and continues to do so today.” Thirty-one years ago, on April 20, 1994, I entered a room full of strangers sitting around four long tables. Men and women who had Styrofoam cups of coffee and big blue books in front of them looked up at me and gave me…