An unnecessary velvet pumpkin. A sweater worn against medical advice from the weather app. Halloween candy that never stood a chance. Senior Contributor Anne Marie Cribbin’s Sober October bingo card celebrates the cozy, slightly ridiculous pleasures of alcohol-free autumn. How many squares can you check off?
What if August wasn’t about becoming someone new, but noticing who you’ve already become? Inspired by the Celtic harvest tradition of Lughnasa, Anne Marie Cribbin shares a simple recovery ritual for gathering the small wins, ordinary joys and quiet evidence that your sober life is already growing.
Long before #NunTok made convent life an internet sensation, Anne Marie spent six months living with the Salesian Sisters. From mopping herself into a corner to discovering the healing power of silence, structure and community, she found lessons that would later feel remarkably familiar in recovery.
Senior Sober Curator contributor Anne Marie Cribbin uses the image of Celtic midsummer bonfires to reflect on sobriety, emotional growth, and the small recovery victories that do not show up on an app. More than a day count, this lyrical piece invites readers to notice the conversations, apologies, boundaries, and brave moments that prove how far their light has traveled.
Anne Marie invites readers to celebrate the summer solstice sober with five salty, soulful rituals inspired by Celtic seaweed traditions. From Irish moss baths and beachside presence practices to playful seaweed crowns and quiet moments by the water, this piece connects ancient coastal wisdom with modern recovery, reminding us that healing does not always have to be polished — sometimes it just needs salt, light, and a little willingness to get weird.
Anne Marie Cribbin reflects on growing up inside a faith community where alcohol, ritual, family, grief, and celebration were deeply intertwined. In this powerful essay, she explores what happens when drinking culture becomes invisible in sacred spaces — and what faith communities can learn from recovery.
In this recovery reflection, Anne Marie Cribbin explores Bealtaine, the Celtic fire festival, as a metaphor for sobriety, nervous system healing, community, and learning the difference between the fires that consume us and the warmth that sustains us.
I have been sober for eight years. I say that with real gratitude. Eight years is a long time, and…
Something happened to us over those ten days. And I don’t think we’re talking about it enough. Collective joy is…
For the past seven months, I have been in a quiet, ongoing relationship with a crow. It perches on my…
People often assume recovery coaching is something you seek in the earliest days of sobriety. The logic seems straightforward. The…
A Celtic offering for welcoming the returning light Twice a year the earth pauses in a moment of near balance.…
In the Celtic calendar, early February marks Imbolc, the seasonal turning associated with the goddess then saint, Brigid. For many…
A nighttime ritual rooted in Celtic recovery Thirsty For Wonder has always been rooted in Celtic recovery and spirituality. That…
The Winter Solstice is the turning point of the year. The longest night. The moment the earth leans as far…
How to Winter Well: The Celtic Way (Especially When You’re Healing) Winter has a way of revealing the truth we…
By November, the trees have stopped performing. Their leaves are gone, the color has drained from the canopy, and what’s…
Sobriety starts as survival. It starts with a decision to stop hurting ourselves in the same old ways. But over…
Some days, the work of recovery feels like tending a garden. There’s pruning, watering, composting what’s no longer alive. And…
There’s a moment in every horror movie. The camera pans in, the shadows lengthen, the music tightens its grip. And…
Autumn doesn’t whisper. It warns. The season strips down every tree and lays bare what’s been hiding in the branches.…
Start in the Dark: How a Celtic Year Teaches Recovery to Breathe “Most things are conceived in the dark.” Anne…
There is a kind of hunger that gnaws long before we name it. It’s not in the belly but in…
Taylor Swift’s latest release, “The Life of a Showgirl” (Oct. 3, 2025), arrives with a shimmer that feels almost audacious…
In the cycle of the Celtic calendar, we are in the season of Lughnasa (LOO-nah-sah). It is the festival of…
In our dopamine-deprived culture, female pop music isn’t shallow — it’s a lifeline. Taylor Swift’s announcement of “The Life of…
In the middle of Washington, D.C., behind a simple Cape Cod-style house, not far from North Capitol Street, my grandmother’s…
In a city that runs on breaking news and Metro fires, mornings matter. I need something bold and grounding, something…
I rearranged my spice cabinet this week. It felt like I was putting myself back together, one jar at a…
We don’t talk enough about the wild in recovery. We talk about steadiness, which matters. We talk about structure, which…
