Hi, my name is Collette, and I’m not an alcoholic. But I did drink too much for many, many years. I did make some really bad choices under the influence of alcohol. I did make hundreds of decisions to moderate, and was unsuccessful every time. And I finally came to the conclusion that the only Read More
Tag: sober
Choosing Better Rhodes
In my last post, I wrote about how being sober can make one feel like the odd one out in social settings. Today, I want to share why it doesn’t have to feel that way. My family spent Thanksgiving at my sister’s house and while I arrived with some apprehension about family dynamics, politics and Read More
Musings from a sober anniversary
Last weekend, we spent our 12th wedding anniversary in San Francisco. We stayed at the Mark Hopkins, and took in a Giants game and the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition. In between the two, we had appetizers and drinks at the Top of the Mark, the place where my husband proposed. This venue, with its panoramic Read More
Nestled in the Center
Soul is a place, the innermost Russian nesting doll. Anne Lamott, Dusk, Night, Dawn This beautiful line by one of my favorite authors struck me with truth and sent my imagination on a journey. Through the stages and seasons of our lives, our souls remain nestled and protected in the center. Layers accumulate, not reliably Read More
Goodbye to Drinking Island
It’s funny how the brain romanticizes things that no longer serve us. A glass of chilled Chardonnay, the ex-boyfriend, sharing a drag off a cigarette in the crisp fall air, the thrill of moving a pile of plastic chips across a green felt table. We could have said goodbye and made our peace weeks, months Read More
That Chapter Had to End Before a New One Could Begin…
And it finally did. Eighteen months ago today. I ended the chapter I had been stuck in for what felt like forever. That chapter where I played the role of an victim, stuck in her circumstances. Stuck in an endless cycle of weakness and remorse. I poured out the wine glass, and ended the most Read More
What’s Working for Me
10 Months In… Today I am celebrating 10 months of alcohol-free living; the longest stretch of sobriety I’ve had since booze and I hooked up over 25 years ago. To be fair, our relationship wasn’t always constant or consistent, and for the past three years it was “on-again, off-again.” Yet, I finally feel like I’ve Read More