Dr. Jeff Sandoz reflects on growing up in Cajun country, finding recovery through AA, and discovering how honest stories can transform shame, isolation, and addiction into hope.
Browsing: speak out speak loud
Sober Curator Sports Contributor Justin Kinney started using kratom for energy, focus, and better workouts, but what looked like a legal performance edge became a dependence he never saw coming.
In this lyrical sober poetry piece, Kim Bellas reflects on a lifetime of waiting for permission, confidence, and rescue before discovering the truth that changed everything: the person she had been waiting for was herself. Honest, hopeful, and deeply encouraging, “I Rescued Myself” is a reflection on courage, reinvention, connection, and the beauty of building a bigger life at any age.
Author Anna David reflects on the evolution from her early “will-say-anything” sober party girl years to motherhood, trauma recovery, and a more grounded understanding of herself. In this personal essay, she shares why she re-released a cleaner version of Party Girl 15 years later — and what happens when the wildest version of your past is still searchable, sellable, and occasionally handed to you by your child’s school principal.
Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence, Overdose, Loss When I got sober, I thought I had cracked the code on life. I…
I have a habit of turning my job into my identity. If I am employed, I am stable. If I…
I wake up in sweat My heart it pounds I can’t catch my breath The dark surrounds I am in…
I was introduced to the idea of glory through my Christian faith. Or maybe through watching Raiders of the Lost…
For most of my adult life, I believed I was a “moderate drinker.” I worked hard, rarely missed a day…
Life has a way of tossing chaos at you. One minute, everything’s fine. The next, you’re dealing with a breakup.…
Apparently it’s getting on for eight years since I had my last alcoholic drink. Wow. Pause for thought. Opening the…
A nerdy look at a great reason to stay sober!
When I was in my 20s and bartending in Alaska (yeah, talk about a kid in the candy shop!), I…
It was July 2010 and even though I don’t remember the exact date, I think I’m pretty close with the…
I never dreamed of becoming a low-level female drug dealer in small-town America. Yet after my home was raided and…
I walked into rehab carrying more than a bag of clothes. I carried the silence of generations. The kind of…
“I am a harm reduction advocate who uses marijuana, not a marijuana advocate who uses harm reduction.” Andrew Littlefield That distinction…
Highways, Heartache, and Hangovers: Our Rehab Odyssey Along the Least Coast We were addicts in love, hitchhiking through chaos. The…
I am bipolar, but my Recovery is not. Deep down I knew addiction was only a symptom for me, the…
Recently I celebrated my sixth year of sobriety. Am I an expert on the topic? God no. But something that…
Fifteen years sober. Fifteen years of meetings, therapy, inventories, step work, helping others, getting help, relapsing only in dreams, and…
All my life, I’ve felt haunted. Haunted by ancestors past, whose abuse would have devastating effects for generations. The two…
We’ve all heard of body dysmorphia—that painful disconnect between how we think we look and how we actually do. But…
“This is it; this is the end.” The warning was sudden and clear. It wasn’t a bellow nor a whisper,…
I used to be the drinker. The one who always said, “Just one more!”—and meant at least five. I drank…
When I first got sober, I had two sugar daddies. I had quit my job at a law school where…
Recovery has gifted me so many things, but the gift that overwhelms me the most is the love it has…
A poem written to King Alcohol. In it, I remind myself that I am worthy of a sober life. Enjoy.…
Fear didn’t think that I would show up today, But I did, and I’m here Hate thought I’d relate, but…
Despite having deleted X from my phone, my partner hasn’t. Today, while he was screaming into the void, he brought…