Author: Lauren McLaughlin

Here in Chicago, spring is springing! I am loving the longer days, sun and flowers poking through the fresh ground. I am one of those people who is energized by the joy of spring. I also recognize that some of you may still have the darkness of winter on your shoulders. Chinese Medicine honors both the dark (yin) and light (yang) that lies within each of us and in nature. You have all seen the Yin/Yang symbol, right?  Do you really know what it means? The Yin-Yang theory is a concept from ancient Chinese philosophy that describes how opposite forces…

April Serenity Point #1 It’s Officially SPRINGTIME! Time to AWAKEN your Recovery through Acupressure! What does Spring mean in Chinese Medicine? In Chinese Medicine, springtime represents the Wood element and is associated with the Liver and Gallbladder organs. It’s a time of renewal, growth, and cleansing, both physically and emotionally. During the Spring, I see a lot of people who tell me they feel like they are coming out of the fog of winter. This is a common response to longer days, more sun and a little more warmth (depending on where you live). However, while some people THRIVE when…

Welcome to the World of Acupressure for Recovery. I am so grateful to share this healing practice with you each month! This will be a bi-weekly section on The Sober Curator! What to expect:  Each month I will cover 2 points that you can do at home to support your recovery. Let’s start with the basics. What is Acupressure? Acupressure is a small part of traditional Chinese Medicine that involves applying manual pressure to specific points on the body to stimulate the body’s self-healing abilities. It is based on the same principles as acupuncture but uses pressure instead of needles.…

When I walked into rehab, I had no idea that a simple task that THEY MADE ME DO would change the trajectory of my life. For the first couple days at the facility, I was at they let you decompress and not have a daily unit chore BUT you did have to make your bed everyday and yes it was checked by staff. I have no memory of my parents telling me to make my bed or even if I did before getting into recovery. I remember thinking what a stupid thing that these people are making me do. Why…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Circus Artist: Britney Spears One week from today I celebrate 16 years of Long Term Recovery (God Willing). This week is always a week of reflection. When people see me now, they have no idea of the circus that was my life 16 years ago. Yes, I was in chaos in all aspects of my life at the time but what I don’t talk about too much is the psychosis that was going on due to a lack of food and lots of drugs and alcohol. Psychosis (definition): a severe mental disorder in which thought and…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Return of the Mack Artist: Mark Morrison If I wasn’t able to cope with recovery using humor I don’t know where I would be. Who else feels betrayed by alcohol and drugs? They lie to us. I thought I was beautiful, gregarious and the life of the party when I used. It turns out I was an anxiety-ridden, picked and scabbed over face ball of annoying at the end. I am coming up on my anniversary and this is always a time of reflection for me. I begin warning my friends/family that around now is…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Lucky Star Artist: Madonna It’s St. Patrick’s Day Week and of course, we are feeling Lucky! Long Term Recovery is not about luck but I sure do feel lucky that I am given the gift of recovery.🇮🇪St. Patrick’s Day 2006 was the beginning to the end of my active addiction. It is also the day of my people, LOL, so I went hard and felt compelled to because I’m Irish. I’m not going to get into the insanity of it because you can assume it involved all of the things that happen on that…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Rhythm of the Night Artist: DeBarge I have heard this song no less than six times over the past week. When things like that happen, I feel like it’s a sign from the universe to pay attention. SO naturally I started overthinking… As a child of the 80s, I assumed that DeBarge was going to be a big part of my adult life. It turned out they were more in the one-hit-wonder category. This led me to start thinking about other one-hit wonders and then it struck me…I am a one-hit-wonder. I am a one-hit-wonder…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: You’re a Superstar Artist: Love, Inc. Sometimes songs come into your life just when you need it. Struggle was the name of the game this week: I was struggling with what I wanted to dance to this week, struggling with my own thoughts about who I am and what I am doing, struggling with body image, struggling with if I matter to people. I got up Monday morning with a renewed sense of self and motivation. Hopped up on the Peleton and on came this song. YOU ARE A (SOBER) SUPERSTAR. We all are. …

I know this is going to come as a shock to all of you but, I am in fact a bad dancer.  I know, it’s hard to believe because let’s be honest the moves I have now are FIERCE! 

Song: Video Killed the Radio Star Artist: The Buggles Tuesday Tunes: Flash Back February Edition We are going way back to the year 1998 (seriously how is that 24 years ago??). Picture it: a college dive bar in Charleston, IL, a group of sorority girls all wearing Steve Madden Platform Slides (if you know you know) and bootcut jeans and LOTS of BEER, and this song comes on….it was 90s mayhem. This flashback is to a time when drinking was still fun for me. I loved those days: no cares in the world, hanging with my “sisters”, enjoying college life. …

Flashback February Edition! Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Rockin Robin Artist: Bobby Day Flashbacks in recovery are normal and happen to everyone. I can be sitting in my office with a patient and all of sudden a memory is sparked of me being in some house in Texas filled with dealers and their packers, guns, and drugs everywhere. Cut to me just walking around asking for more (because one is never enough). I joke and say that I am 43 years old but I can’t remember half of my life due to those memories just being gone thanks to…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Last Dance Artist: Donna Summer It’s a bitter-sweet moment in time. This dance is the Last Dance in my current apartment. This is the place I have called home for nine years. If these walls could talk, they would share many memories, laughter, crying, loneliness, and friendship from inside this one-bedroom apartment. Here’s what is not stored in these four walls; drinking or using, shame, guilt, or denial. I never used in this apartment. I woke up every day knowing where I was, who I was, and what I was. It is a freeing feeling knowing I…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Daisies Artist: Katy Perry Early recovery for me was a bit of a war zone sometimes. When I drove up the driveway to the treatment center, I had a feeling come over me that I just knew this was my one shot at a new life. I entered treatment with the plan to accept all the opportunities given to me there (not always with a smile on my face or gratitude in my heart, LOL). I wanted a better life, and I was willing to work for it. The naïve me didn’t know that…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: ‘Til You Can’t Artist: Cody Johnson I cannot stop listening to this song! It should be the Official Anthem on 2022 if you ask me. This year is coming in hot with lots of drama but this song has been on repeat for me. It reminds me to not be that person who creates goals in January and does nothing with them. I refuse to end 2022 in the same position I am going into 2022. Recovery gives me choices. Today, I choose to take chances and run with them. I choose to have…

Tuesday Tunes Song of the Week: Brighter Days Artist: Blessing Offor It’s here…2022. If you are anything like me, you have a little hope for the new year. I, for one, welcome this energy shift. 2021, I’m so read for you to be over. I felt the weight of the world for most of 2021. It became unbearable some days. Did anything horrible happen to me or my life, no but grief was a heavy backpack I wore most days toward the end. In my quest to be inspired for 2022 I found this song, Brighter Days by Blessing Offor. …

This week’s song is a no-brainer. In anticipation of the big day, we dance to the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) Past, Present, and Future: Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You. The Queen of Christmas has me jiggling my jolly parts every time I hear this one. I hope you enjoy this holiday season, and my wish for you is peace, serenity, and JOY. TUESDAY TUNES with Lauren McLaughlin: Welcome to Tuesday Tunes With Sober Curator Lauren McLaughlin, AKA @JoyfullySober, Your New Weekly Sober Dance PartyTuesday Tunes With Sober Curator Lauren McLaughlin AKA @Joyfullysober – The Holiday EditionLET IT…

It’s time for TUESDAY TUNES, and I DARE YOU not to bust out some finger-snapping, head-bopping moves to this song. I can’t resist a good boy band holiday tune during this time of year, and N’Sync brings it big with this jam. Not only is it a catchy tune, but if you listen to the words, it hits home in many ways for me. Three Lyrics I love: “It’s a wonderful feeling, feel the love in the room, from the floor to the ceiling.” Sometimes we get so wrapped up in stress during this time of year it reminds me to…

The Holidays are in full swing and for some, this is the first holiday season to be sober. On my first holiday, I was 8 months sober and it was scary and overwhelming and if I am being honest very humbling. I was 28 years old, living in a sober living house, working at Bath and Body Works in the Mall of America. I couldn’t afford Christmas gifts and I didn’t have extra money to buy supplies to do any baking (nor did I have my own kitchen). There was no tree to decorate. I was embarrassed and angry…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…and the beginning of the never-ending debate on when it is ok to put up your tree. Are you Team Before Thanksgiving or Team After Thanksgiving? I am Team After Thanksgiving. So this weekend I rocked out to Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson and got it done! Oh, and of course, I got a new Holiday Themed Housecoat! TUESDAY TUNES with Lauren Mclaughlin: Welcome to Tuesday Tunes With Sober Curator Lauren McLaughlin, AKA @JoyfullySober, Your New Weekly Sober Dance Party PLAY IT AGAIN: Music can instantly transport you to another state…

We are starting a new weekly segment: drumroll please……Introducing Tuesday Tunes! Let me introduce myself; I’m Lauren, a Sober Curator from the Chicago area (aka the suburbs). I am a person in long-term recovery; I celebrated 15 years in April of 2021. Music has played a massive part in my recovery. I got sober so long ago that iPhone, Spotify, Pandora weren’t even a thing yet! LOL, I had cases of CDs (see picture above). This one is not mine since I left all of my CDs in my drug den apartment that I evacuated when I got sober; maybe I…