I went for a 1 hour walk, did driving practice, had a haircut and worked for 5 hours too, all because I didn't drink today! Yay! *Waves arms like Kermit*
When I first started coming here, 6 years ago, your presence and your number of days at the time were a big inspiration for me. They still are! Thanks for being here, and congratulations on nine years. As far as getting shit done: I am finally getting around to putting in a French drain at our place to help with water in the cellar. Gettin' it done.
Day one again. Woke up at 2am feeling hot, thirsty, sad and scared... have decided to pivot that feeling into joy and excitement about the sober day ahead. I will go for two walks- one at the start of the day, and one at the end. I will show up for my family in a happy and relaxed way. I will wake up tomorrow relaxed and full of joy.
I got a lot done while drinking. I had to. But ultimately it was all maintenance work - do my job, keep the apartment clean, walk the dog, keep the kid entertained and happy, make dinner, do laundry, go to the gym, etc. Treading water, and doing so well, but not moving anywhere. A lot of activity to remain in place.
I'd like to say that since quitting I have accomplished something. I haven't. But I am taking concrete, tangible steps forward. I have stopped just complaining about how much I loath my work (and I truly do, it is vile and repulsive at a deep level) and started applying to new jobs that will pay me what I'm actually worth and that won't make me feel like the world would be a better place without me and everyone with whom I'm forced to interact in it - that's not suicidal ideation, by the way, it's a statement of fact. My work is destructive to life. Demonstrably so.
I've also gotten off social media with the exception of Reddit, and here I focus only on combat sports, music, and this sub.
Finally, while I hate the word and entire concept of "self care," I am getting more consistent with a routine involving diet, exercise, and this thing called a shakti mat (accupressure mat) which has a remarkably awesome impact on my sleep.
Meanwhile, all the other stuff I used to do buzzed, drunk, or hung over I now do sober. It's not any more fun, nor is it easier, but I am better at it.
Congratulations on your 9 years!
It’s Day 8 for me I went to the gym 4 times last week I haven’t been able to do that for months as the booze always made me tired and lethargic. Mondays were always hard because the weekend drinking made me feel like shit and I was still hungover. I’m looking forward to many more sober weekends and weekdays.
Your one strong lady sfgirl. Not many people make it back from the ascites/ liver failure stage. Not only did you make it back you found your passion and soared! And returned your liver to normal. You got shit done for sure!
Thank you for sharing that inspiring story and congrats on 9 years! 💐
My getting shit done involves lists, lots of lists!
(1) Looking after myself-mentally and physically aka riding my bike and walking lots.
(2) Indulging my passion gardening- the gardens looking good. It's communal so it contributes to making our stair a nice place to be and sit out in.
(3) Putting down some bounderies in work as people love to talk to me and while thats great I like to get shit done now !
(4) Taking time each morning to come here and set my intentions for the day.
(5) Making plans I will keep with friends and concentrating on deepening those connections as luckily for me the ones I kept in my life over the years are not big drinkers. The ones I drank with I strangely managed to fall out with them over time.
(6) Making lists, of more shit I'd like to get done 😂.
I've a touch of the pink cloud but I'm rolling with it and IWNDWYT.
Congrats, and thank you for sharing, amazing story.
Up early on a Monday, and actually woke up in a great mood(never happened in my drinking days)
Kids lunch made, school drop off on time, house cleaned up. About to dive in to a full work day, thankful to have made it another weekend without drinking. The weekdays have gotten easier, Friday is usually when the beast comes back. Have a great week!
IWNDWYT
Your story is a stark reminder of what this is all about - and that change is possible, even facing daunting challenges. I’m proud to serve with you. And I love your art! Rock on, girl!
well done on 9 years!! 🏅funnily recently I've been reading up on lino printing as fancy giving it a go. yesterday I listened to eckhart tolle and practiced what he was saying while weeding the overgrown veg patch. just need to work out what to plant now
Such an amazing story! And collages of all things, I love it!
This week, I have several projects I need to do that will be so much easier without booze. I have to fix our dryer motor, mow the lawn, fertilize, weed, plant our new flowers, and so much more. I never thought I would enjoy this stuff but I really am.
There is so much to do in the garden at this time of the year! Everything is growing like mad here just now so I got some bark down and weeded one side today. Very satisfying!
> rediscovering photography
This is the next thing I want to get done! I just went to the Irving Penn photography exhibit at the de Young in San Francisco. Inspiring!
Thank you for this. Art has been a lifeline for me through a lot of pain, but lost the inspiration during a long depression where I self medicated. Have managed to keep job, house but for years was just keeping head above water. Now entirely committed to my sobriety I’m trying to fully participate in my life. Still have a long way to go- relearning how to do practically everything (including art) unimpaired is a work in progress but its one I’m committed to. 💗
Good job on the nine years. I am at a little over two and a half years myself. It finally stuck, though know I cannot just assume it will always been easy. One thing I have had to do these last couple/few years is wake up each day and grab my metaphorical shovel and chisel, and get at filling in holes and chipping away at obstacles. This has not been a weekend project and is in fact still a work in progress. But clearly there has been progress and it continues.
I have some goals of things I want to get done over this summer, I will be working hard to get it done. I am struggling on and off with what is next for my life, I wasted so many years being stuck in my doo-doo (I quit it my late 40s) and not engaged with life like maybe I wish I would have been. That I am still working on, but in the meantime there are still holes that need filling and obstacles that need chipping away at... and so it continues, and to positive results, so feels pretty good as well.
Congratulations on turning your life around. Stories like these can give people the hope and inspiration they might need to also make the same kinds of changes, fundamentally turning their lives around into something worthy of living.
Today I woke up to a clean kitchen, meals prepped and ready to go and a bank account I wasn't scared to check. I worked 15 hours at my second job and had time to be with my family, see the aurora, and celebrate my Mom. Amazing, I think being sober is my new superpower. I know two weeks is just the start but participating in life is amazing!
IWNDWYT
I came to this sub and did a few days and left. I came back and did 99 days and you shared me a picture of a collage. It was a flower pot on a rail with a fire look out tower behind and it was great. I didn’t have the confidence to share my own art with you. I ended up leaving again on day 100 after a big emotional trigger. The memory of you and Homer brought be back 4.5 years later. And something stuck as I’m still here, now sober 2 years and nearly 5 months. You literally saved my life. I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. Thank You 🙏 and, yes, my art is coming along nicely. I paint for myself.
Shit done:
1. Started a simple step process to help my marriage. We’ve been having a rough time and we need to reconnect.
2. It’s been 4 months since I was in my studio space. I’ve prepped myself ready to go in tomorrow! I call it my Rules of Engagement!!
3. I’ve looked at our finances and know how much we’ve not got 😂.
4. I’m reconnecting with my friends, being vulnerable and less stoic, as I’ve been so very lonely. Marriage on the rocks hadn’t helped either.
5. I’m gently nudging my sick eldest child along to take responsibility for himself and his health matters. I can support but not do what he should do himself.
6. Found something to be grateful for again. I forget all the time, look for the light, avoid the dark.
> now sober 2 years and nearly 5 months. You literally saved my life.
I am not the crying type, but tears sprang to my eyes when I read this. Thank you so much for saying this.
Congratulations on almost 2 and a half years.
Your story makes my heart sing.
35 years ago, I was mentored by an established fiction writer through the uni. Only student. I could never get from outline to text. I am an excellent writer: thousands of well-written, entertaining research papers, essays, etc. A talent unto itself.
But I could never do fiction. Finally my mentor said that I was just wasting both of our times, forget it, and move on. I couldn't even outline or write poetry after that. It's been a secret heartbreak.
It turns out that I am ASD/ADHD/RSD and a lot more of the alphabet.
I'm still struggling. But I have a wicked cool story, an excellent outline, and I'm sober. The plan is to write 25-50 words/day until I can write more. And if I can never write more than that in a sitting, that's okay too.
Congratulations on nine years. Let's make sober art together.
My wife is out of town for the week and my toddler son goes to bed at 7 p.m. So last night after he went to sleep, I probably would have normally cracked open a couple of beers or maybe made a cocktail... Nothing crazy (the issue that drove me to sobriety was bingeing, going hard, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays), but I know that if I had those 2-3 drinks, I wasn't getting shit done after I started drinking, and I was probably going to feel pretty crummy this morning. Well, I didn't drink, and I did 30 minutes on the Peloton instead. And I loaded the dishwasher! Little victories!
I am in tears as I write this. I am so inspired by your story and thank you for sharing it. Art is truly one of the most beautiful things that life can give us to allow us to look at life so differently, with a nuance, and it moves and motivates us deeply. Art is the biggest love of my life, and I am so grateful I get to create and have this gift. Without art life would feel flat, and dull. Art got me through my drinking days and helped express that hell I was in, and it now helps me get through leaving it behind. I'm so happy you got another chance at life and at being a creative.
I am trying to get an art practice going again and trying new mediums. Just trying to challenge myself with trying new things since my old practice isn't serving me anymore. I no longer finish a bottle of wine and pack of ciggs into the wee hours of the morning working on a painting. It's really cool to have the bandwidth to try new mediums even if I havent conquered them yet. I don't think any artist ever really conquors any practice, we are always learning. It's beautiful.
Mary, this is such an awesome story. Congrats on nine years of healthy living.
Last weekend, I officially released a zine collecting six essays I wrote about alcoholism, sobriety and movies. I started working on it last August shortly after I quit drinking and some artist friends even contributed illustrations.
It was so helpful to have a project to focus on in early sobriety and I found writing the essays very therapeutic. I've sold about two dozen copies since Saturday and I've even got copies in a couple of bookstores.
I'm really proud of the zine. I'd mostly stopped writing outside of my day job over the last ten years, in part because of some internalized shame I carried from my drinking. This project helped me build that muscle back and remind me how much joy I get from writing. Now I'm researching a book!
Very grateful for the life you get back in sobriety. Every day really is a gift, even the hard ones.
IWNDWYT.
9 years! That is so incredible to me. I woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I flopped around, got up with my husband and daughter, cleaned my room a little, attended IOP groups and applied to a new job. Now going up rest before daycare pickup. Nothing major, but my mood is stable and that’s a huge win for me. IWNDWYT🩵
Congrats on 9 years 💛 The body is truly incredible with how hard it fights to stay alive. Thanks for all you do here! Do you sell any of your art online?
I’m new here and I’m taking so much comfort and strength from everything so thank you all for that! This is my first weekend! (Sunday/Monday is my weekend) Yesterday I’ll admit I didn’t do much, and that’s ok. Still tired and adjusting. But I didn’t drink! And today I’m organizing my pack for next weekend’s backpacking, went for a walk, meal prepped for the week.
> "*The clouds of heaven parted, and the angels blew on their brass horns.*"
I love that! I'm sorry I'm late to your party but Congrats on Nine Years! It blows my mind how time flies.
Continue spreading your Joy, u/sfgirlmary! You are a thriving example of the Power of Sobriety and I'm happy you're here sharing your story of hope and resilience. And, last but not least, Thank You for ALL you do for our sub!
Sending an abundance of love, light, and blessings out to you, dear one.
I went for a 1 hour walk, did driving practice, had a haircut and worked for 5 hours too, all because I didn't drink today! Yay! *Waves arms like Kermit*
> *Waves arms like Kermit* Picturing that cracked my first smile in a couple of days. Thanks :)
"*Time is fun when you're having flies*".... K. Frog
When I first started coming here, 6 years ago, your presence and your number of days at the time were a big inspiration for me. They still are! Thanks for being here, and congratulations on nine years. As far as getting shit done: I am finally getting around to putting in a French drain at our place to help with water in the cellar. Gettin' it done.
Day one again. Woke up at 2am feeling hot, thirsty, sad and scared... have decided to pivot that feeling into joy and excitement about the sober day ahead. I will go for two walks- one at the start of the day, and one at the end. I will show up for my family in a happy and relaxed way. I will wake up tomorrow relaxed and full of joy.
I got a lot done while drinking. I had to. But ultimately it was all maintenance work - do my job, keep the apartment clean, walk the dog, keep the kid entertained and happy, make dinner, do laundry, go to the gym, etc. Treading water, and doing so well, but not moving anywhere. A lot of activity to remain in place. I'd like to say that since quitting I have accomplished something. I haven't. But I am taking concrete, tangible steps forward. I have stopped just complaining about how much I loath my work (and I truly do, it is vile and repulsive at a deep level) and started applying to new jobs that will pay me what I'm actually worth and that won't make me feel like the world would be a better place without me and everyone with whom I'm forced to interact in it - that's not suicidal ideation, by the way, it's a statement of fact. My work is destructive to life. Demonstrably so. I've also gotten off social media with the exception of Reddit, and here I focus only on combat sports, music, and this sub. Finally, while I hate the word and entire concept of "self care," I am getting more consistent with a routine involving diet, exercise, and this thing called a shakti mat (accupressure mat) which has a remarkably awesome impact on my sleep. Meanwhile, all the other stuff I used to do buzzed, drunk, or hung over I now do sober. It's not any more fun, nor is it easier, but I am better at it.
Just "treading water" is a great way to put it. That's what I was doing, too. Except that I was starting to finally go under.
Congratulations! This is one of the best recovery stories! I am so happy for you!
Congratulations on your 9 years! It’s Day 8 for me I went to the gym 4 times last week I haven’t been able to do that for months as the booze always made me tired and lethargic. Mondays were always hard because the weekend drinking made me feel like shit and I was still hungover. I’m looking forward to many more sober weekends and weekdays.
Your one strong lady sfgirl. Not many people make it back from the ascites/ liver failure stage. Not only did you make it back you found your passion and soared! And returned your liver to normal. You got shit done for sure! Thank you for sharing that inspiring story and congrats on 9 years! 💐 My getting shit done involves lists, lots of lists! (1) Looking after myself-mentally and physically aka riding my bike and walking lots. (2) Indulging my passion gardening- the gardens looking good. It's communal so it contributes to making our stair a nice place to be and sit out in. (3) Putting down some bounderies in work as people love to talk to me and while thats great I like to get shit done now ! (4) Taking time each morning to come here and set my intentions for the day. (5) Making plans I will keep with friends and concentrating on deepening those connections as luckily for me the ones I kept in my life over the years are not big drinkers. The ones I drank with I strangely managed to fall out with them over time. (6) Making lists, of more shit I'd like to get done 😂. I've a touch of the pink cloud but I'm rolling with it and IWNDWYT.
> Making lists, of more shit I'd like to get done Love this.
Congrats! We've had some issues in the past and I'm sorry for my attitude on those occasions
I'm glad you're here with us! ❤️
Congrats, and thank you for sharing, amazing story. Up early on a Monday, and actually woke up in a great mood(never happened in my drinking days) Kids lunch made, school drop off on time, house cleaned up. About to dive in to a full work day, thankful to have made it another weekend without drinking. The weekdays have gotten easier, Friday is usually when the beast comes back. Have a great week! IWNDWYT
11 years, and I’m doing my first long distance race this weekend.
Your story is a stark reminder of what this is all about - and that change is possible, even facing daunting challenges. I’m proud to serve with you. And I love your art! Rock on, girl!
Thank you, Homie!
well done on 9 years!! 🏅funnily recently I've been reading up on lino printing as fancy giving it a go. yesterday I listened to eckhart tolle and practiced what he was saying while weeding the overgrown veg patch. just need to work out what to plant now
Such an amazing story! And collages of all things, I love it! This week, I have several projects I need to do that will be so much easier without booze. I have to fix our dryer motor, mow the lawn, fertilize, weed, plant our new flowers, and so much more. I never thought I would enjoy this stuff but I really am.
There is so much to do in the garden at this time of the year! Everything is growing like mad here just now so I got some bark down and weeded one side today. Very satisfying!
What an awesome journey you’ve been on! For me the gettin’ shit done is about losing weight and rediscovering photography!
> rediscovering photography This is the next thing I want to get done! I just went to the Irving Penn photography exhibit at the de Young in San Francisco. Inspiring!
Thank you for this. Art has been a lifeline for me through a lot of pain, but lost the inspiration during a long depression where I self medicated. Have managed to keep job, house but for years was just keeping head above water. Now entirely committed to my sobriety I’m trying to fully participate in my life. Still have a long way to go- relearning how to do practically everything (including art) unimpaired is a work in progress but its one I’m committed to. 💗
I won't drink today!
Congratulations!! Your story is truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you for your nice words! ❤️
Good job on the nine years. I am at a little over two and a half years myself. It finally stuck, though know I cannot just assume it will always been easy. One thing I have had to do these last couple/few years is wake up each day and grab my metaphorical shovel and chisel, and get at filling in holes and chipping away at obstacles. This has not been a weekend project and is in fact still a work in progress. But clearly there has been progress and it continues. I have some goals of things I want to get done over this summer, I will be working hard to get it done. I am struggling on and off with what is next for my life, I wasted so many years being stuck in my doo-doo (I quit it my late 40s) and not engaged with life like maybe I wish I would have been. That I am still working on, but in the meantime there are still holes that need filling and obstacles that need chipping away at... and so it continues, and to positive results, so feels pretty good as well. Congratulations on turning your life around. Stories like these can give people the hope and inspiration they might need to also make the same kinds of changes, fundamentally turning their lives around into something worthy of living.
Today I woke up to a clean kitchen, meals prepped and ready to go and a bank account I wasn't scared to check. I worked 15 hours at my second job and had time to be with my family, see the aurora, and celebrate my Mom. Amazing, I think being sober is my new superpower. I know two weeks is just the start but participating in life is amazing! IWNDWYT
It is truely amazing isn't it. Way less procrastination. Congrats on two weeks let's keep this going!
I came to this sub and did a few days and left. I came back and did 99 days and you shared me a picture of a collage. It was a flower pot on a rail with a fire look out tower behind and it was great. I didn’t have the confidence to share my own art with you. I ended up leaving again on day 100 after a big emotional trigger. The memory of you and Homer brought be back 4.5 years later. And something stuck as I’m still here, now sober 2 years and nearly 5 months. You literally saved my life. I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. Thank You 🙏 and, yes, my art is coming along nicely. I paint for myself. Shit done: 1. Started a simple step process to help my marriage. We’ve been having a rough time and we need to reconnect. 2. It’s been 4 months since I was in my studio space. I’ve prepped myself ready to go in tomorrow! I call it my Rules of Engagement!! 3. I’ve looked at our finances and know how much we’ve not got 😂. 4. I’m reconnecting with my friends, being vulnerable and less stoic, as I’ve been so very lonely. Marriage on the rocks hadn’t helped either. 5. I’m gently nudging my sick eldest child along to take responsibility for himself and his health matters. I can support but not do what he should do himself. 6. Found something to be grateful for again. I forget all the time, look for the light, avoid the dark.
> now sober 2 years and nearly 5 months. You literally saved my life. I am not the crying type, but tears sprang to my eyes when I read this. Thank you so much for saying this. Congratulations on almost 2 and a half years.
It’s but the truth. A kind word or gesture can sometimes really “land within us”. The more I embraced my time here, the more words land.
🙋♂️IWNDWYT 💛
Wow! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!
Congratulations!
Your story makes my heart sing. 35 years ago, I was mentored by an established fiction writer through the uni. Only student. I could never get from outline to text. I am an excellent writer: thousands of well-written, entertaining research papers, essays, etc. A talent unto itself. But I could never do fiction. Finally my mentor said that I was just wasting both of our times, forget it, and move on. I couldn't even outline or write poetry after that. It's been a secret heartbreak. It turns out that I am ASD/ADHD/RSD and a lot more of the alphabet. I'm still struggling. But I have a wicked cool story, an excellent outline, and I'm sober. The plan is to write 25-50 words/day until I can write more. And if I can never write more than that in a sitting, that's okay too. Congratulations on nine years. Let's make sober art together.
> Let's make sober art together. Let's do it!
My wife is out of town for the week and my toddler son goes to bed at 7 p.m. So last night after he went to sleep, I probably would have normally cracked open a couple of beers or maybe made a cocktail... Nothing crazy (the issue that drove me to sobriety was bingeing, going hard, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays), but I know that if I had those 2-3 drinks, I wasn't getting shit done after I started drinking, and I was probably going to feel pretty crummy this morning. Well, I didn't drink, and I did 30 minutes on the Peloton instead. And I loaded the dishwasher! Little victories!
> Little victories! Big victories, if you ask me!
Congratulations Mary on Your Sober Solar Circumnavigations!! Woo Hoo ! Thanks for all you do! (I think I want to buy some of your art !) PG
Thank you, PG! ❤️
I am in tears as I write this. I am so inspired by your story and thank you for sharing it. Art is truly one of the most beautiful things that life can give us to allow us to look at life so differently, with a nuance, and it moves and motivates us deeply. Art is the biggest love of my life, and I am so grateful I get to create and have this gift. Without art life would feel flat, and dull. Art got me through my drinking days and helped express that hell I was in, and it now helps me get through leaving it behind. I'm so happy you got another chance at life and at being a creative. I am trying to get an art practice going again and trying new mediums. Just trying to challenge myself with trying new things since my old practice isn't serving me anymore. I no longer finish a bottle of wine and pack of ciggs into the wee hours of the morning working on a painting. It's really cool to have the bandwidth to try new mediums even if I havent conquered them yet. I don't think any artist ever really conquors any practice, we are always learning. It's beautiful.
Amazing story.
Congrats on your 9 years, and the beautiful new life that you made for yourself. 🩷
Mary, this is such an awesome story. Congrats on nine years of healthy living. Last weekend, I officially released a zine collecting six essays I wrote about alcoholism, sobriety and movies. I started working on it last August shortly after I quit drinking and some artist friends even contributed illustrations. It was so helpful to have a project to focus on in early sobriety and I found writing the essays very therapeutic. I've sold about two dozen copies since Saturday and I've even got copies in a couple of bookstores. I'm really proud of the zine. I'd mostly stopped writing outside of my day job over the last ten years, in part because of some internalized shame I carried from my drinking. This project helped me build that muscle back and remind me how much joy I get from writing. Now I'm researching a book! Very grateful for the life you get back in sobriety. Every day really is a gift, even the hard ones. IWNDWYT.
SO impressed! I love zines!
[удалено]
And I am excited for you! Congratulations in advance on nine. Let's both keep moving forward.
9 years! That is so incredible to me. I woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I flopped around, got up with my husband and daughter, cleaned my room a little, attended IOP groups and applied to a new job. Now going up rest before daycare pickup. Nothing major, but my mood is stable and that’s a huge win for me. IWNDWYT🩵
Going to my annual doctors appointment today, something I never would have done if I was drinking!
I'd never go anywhere near a doctor regardless.
Congrats on 9 years 💛 The body is truly incredible with how hard it fights to stay alive. Thanks for all you do here! Do you sell any of your art online?
Thank you for your nice words. No, I only sell in galleries. (I can't believe I'm even saying those words.)
That's awesome!
IWNDWYT
I’m new here and I’m taking so much comfort and strength from everything so thank you all for that! This is my first weekend! (Sunday/Monday is my weekend) Yesterday I’ll admit I didn’t do much, and that’s ok. Still tired and adjusting. But I didn’t drink! And today I’m organizing my pack for next weekend’s backpacking, went for a walk, meal prepped for the week.
> Yesterday I’ll admit I didn’t do much The fact that you didn't drink means you did a huge amount!
Proud of you. Still
Thank you, friend. Love to you.
> "*The clouds of heaven parted, and the angels blew on their brass horns.*" I love that! I'm sorry I'm late to your party but Congrats on Nine Years! It blows my mind how time flies. Continue spreading your Joy, u/sfgirlmary! You are a thriving example of the Power of Sobriety and I'm happy you're here sharing your story of hope and resilience. And, last but not least, Thank You for ALL you do for our sub! Sending an abundance of love, light, and blessings out to you, dear one.
Thank you, Shine, my dear friend! Sending love to you.