Dear Hangover

I am enjoying another hangover free weekend.
Once upon a time, such a thing seemed undoable.
Clarity is my new normal because I didn’t give up on it.

Same 🤍

The unknown, the questions, the seeking. The sprinting and the sitting still.

The now - my least familiar era to date.

Sobriety was a reintroduction to the vibrant life I’d had all along.

After I removed the alcohol, what was I left with?

The glaring light of everything.

The insecurities, the pain, the fear.
The responsibility.
The exhaustion.

The passion, the love, the micro joys.
The hope, constantly fading and surging…

I’m sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. 🤍 May this discomfort remind you of your freedom. Life is too short for elective headaches!

Is there any such thing as “normal” use of an addictive substance?

In sobriety I toss out the word “normal” in relation to alcohol.  My desire to ‘drink like a normal person’ only kept me drinking.

“Normal” is a subjective term that gave me false hope.

My perception of people that drink “normally” is unreliable - I never know how much another person drinks.

Beautiful! Congratulations 🤍

For my sober people,
Do you ever tire of waking up hangover free?
Me neither,
xoxo
Clarity
#sobersky

I have more reverence for my life as a sober soul, than I was able to cultivate as a human stuck on the hamster wheel of drinking.  This is one of the many reasons I no longer have shame about my past, I am deeply grateful for all it has taught me.

The difference in a sober life is that we are required to do these things without chemically numbing.  While this calls for awareness, commitment and a daily practice of action for any human - for those of us with a history of substance abuse, letting this routine slip risks fatal consequence.

Many of the things I process and write about sobriety are really just about life.

At core, sober people are doing what all people need to do:

🔹 face life as it is
🔹 manage our over stimulated nervous systems
🔹 cope with stressors outside of our control

Who is joining me in a sober weekend?

Click the heart to count yourself in!

👉🤍

Share how you you’ll spend this clear time below.

#sobersky #sobriety #recovery

Well done Alex! 🤍

Today I am here.
Today I am clear.
Today I get to feel it all.

🧵
#sobersky

It has helped my sobriety to lean into the “get to”.  I get to feel every experience this complicated Earth offers a human.

Today, as we bear witness to the tragedy of this plane crash, and are shaken by the pain of each family’s loss - I am reminded to have reverence for my own impermanence.

🧵

When I got sober, I sat quietly in meetings, day after day, weeping uncontrollably.  I listened to my truths spoken by strangers, a lifetime of emotions dripping down my face.  One day someone whispered:

The good news is -
you get to feel all the feels.
The bad news is -
you will feel it all.

🧵

I can drive anywhere, at any time.

This may sound like a silly thing to be grateful for but the reality is - my drinking blocked this readiness.

Having clarity allows me to be capable and available to respond to life emergencies 24/7. The peace this gives me as a parent is priceless.

#sobersky

INTUITION A note from Clarity to support your sobriety.

open.substack.com/pub/dearhang...
#sobersky

INTUITION A note from Clarity to support your sobriety.

open.substack.com/pub/dearhang...
#sobersky

Well done, keep going 🤍

Yes it is. 🤍

For my sober people,
Do you miss having a case of The MonDaze?
Exhausted body,
hazy brain
a piece of your soul stuck in the weekend?
Me neither.
Happy Monday!
XOXO
Clarity
#sobersky

Same. Well done Patrick! Keep going 🤍

Clarity Note: Willingness

A word to support your sobriety:
✨ willingness ✨
open.substack.com/pub/dearhang...
#sobersky #recovery

When I was a drinker, everything I assumed about sobriety was wrong.
Sometimes our wrongness is the best thing for us. This lesson has become a tool that can open me, when I am closing myself off from the joy of unknown experiences.
#sobersky

It’s funny how what we need has a way of finding us. 🤍

Well done Alex! A hangover free life is glorious. Keep going, the gifts keep coming. 🤍

Thank you Kelly 🤍

Dear Hangover 2 I need to quit drinking. I am finally ready. How do I tell my friends and family?

substack.com/@dearhangove...
#sobersky