Sobriety helps you peel off the layers (thanks @Ditchingthewine for the expression), and figure out who you are. I just moved back to my home country after being abroad for 6 years, and it’s taking a bit of readapting. My brain has to re-learn a set of cultural norms, switch to another language, adopt newContinue reading “2020, or the Joys of Sober Dating During a Global Pandemic”
Tag Archives: recovery
Dear Lockdown: Here We Go Again!
While people in America wonder whether Halloween will be canceled, the French president announced that France would be going into a full nationwide lockdown again (this time, with schools staying open). Today is day 1. After the lockdown in the U.S. last winter and spring, I, like many others around me, am tired of theContinue reading “Dear Lockdown: Here We Go Again!”
The Controversial Topic of Nonalcoholic Drinks
Hi friends, I’ve been sober for over a year, and I’m fortunate that cravings very rarely hit me now. I barely think about drinking anymore, unless some new or triggering situation comes up, in which case I generally know what to do and have tools to navigate the whole thing. But yesterday, a new situationContinue reading “The Controversial Topic of Nonalcoholic Drinks”
Holy sh*t, I’m a (sober) Doctor!
I did it friends! I successfully defended and submitted my PhD dissertation to my university, and I am now a doctor! The two hour long defense was so intense, I had promised myself to rest beforehand but I ended up revising until the very last second. During the defense, which was on zoom (and evenContinue reading “Holy sh*t, I’m a (sober) Doctor!”
Sober stress management and self-parenting
Hi, my name is Anne, and I’m an Academic. Oh, and I also often suffer from a pathological fear of public speaking. Oh, and ARGHHHHHH … my PhD defense is in 4 days and I feel like I don’t know or understand anything anymore … SOS, SOS, MAYDAY, HEEEELP ! Don’t worry. Yes, I’m stressed, butContinue reading “Sober stress management and self-parenting”
Melancholia vs. hope
Hi friends, I meant to write this post a couple of days ago, when I woke up feeling down and melancholic and lonely and in need of a bit of hope. It’s fall here (as in most of the Northern hemisphere) and I’ve finally had a few days to settle down and feel lonely inContinue reading “Melancholia vs. hope”
A New Life
Hi friends, I’m back, like I promised 🙂 The photo above is the view from my window, out of which I contemplate the new life that stretches out before me, full of scary emptiness yet bursting with possibilities (if you’re an optimist). I arrived in France a few days ago, after an intense couple ofContinue reading “A New Life”
Day 367: 1 Year Sober. HOLY F***K
Dear Past-Anne, It’s the end of summer, 2019. You just flew back from Paris back to your home on the East Coast of the U.S.A. Tomorrow you start your sobriety journey. I know you’ve been drinking almost every day these last few weeks, and that you’re really anxious at the idea of letting the boozeContinue reading “Day 367: 1 Year Sober. HOLY F***K”
Day 347: The Final Push.
My friend Claire’s post about Resilience https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/169561941/posts/487 got me thinking today. As I embark on the final push toward finishing my dissertation (4 weeks left to edit a 550 page manuscript… yikes!) and reaching the 1 year sobriety mark (though that feels more like a soft swoop than a push), I pause for a momentContinue reading “Day 347: The Final Push.”
Day 339: 11 months and My First Sober Camping Trip into the Wild
You might be thinking “Who on earth takes alcohol on a hike? Aren’t you supposed to travel light?” … Well, yes. Except when drinking is your top priority and—so you believe—the “only” to enjoy things. So yes, you read me correctly. This was a sober “first” for me. In the past, if I went hikingContinue reading “Day 339: 11 months and My First Sober Camping Trip into the Wild”