Why I stopped trying to “reason” with my addiction. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. After I quit drinking, the evenings became the hardest part of my day. I had been a daily drinker for years, but like many “high-functioning” alcoholics, I had mostly managed to keep my habit relegated to the nights. …

Can you go to a bar after getting sober? Should you? — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. A Failed Attempt to Quit Drinking I’ve been sober since the end of 2016, but I made a lot of failed attempts to quit drinking before learning to stick with it. There was one particularly embarrassing ill-fated attempt from sometime in my early- or mid-twenties. …

Life doesn’t have to be so endlessly mortifying. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. Embarrassed to Drink Back before I got sober, I used to be incredibly embarrassed by how much I drank. …

Hi everyone, It’s been quite a while since I sent out an email through Medium, but I wanted to provide a short update on my plans for the Exploring Sobriety blog. I’ve been writing this blog for almost exactly five years, and I hope to continue writing it for at…

Sobriety doesn’t have to be boring. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. One of my fears about getting sober was that life wouldn’t be any fun without alcohol. When I first quit drinking, I was bored out of my mind. I sat around my apartment for hours doing nothing but thinking about how…

This is what I wish I had understood when I first quit drinking. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. There was a self-sabotaging thought that frequently ran through my head when I first quit drinking: “If it’s this hard to get through just a few days, how will I ever manage to stick with sobriety for the rest of my…

The consequences of addiction weren’t always life-ruining, but they were exhausting nonetheless. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. When I think back to my years as a heavy drinker, I tend to focus my attention on the biggest impacts that alcoholism had on my life. For example, my drinking led to increased isolation, worsened depression, and struggling finances. …

It took more than online quizzes for me to accept that I was an alcoholic. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. How does someone know that they’re an alcoholic? After half a decade of sobriety, it’s trivially easy for me to look back at my life as a drinker and recognize the signs of addiction. I wasn’t even a borderline case. I…

But now I’ve made it five and a half years sober. — This essay originally appeared in the Exploring Sobriety newsletter. My First Attempt at Sobriety How long does it take to get sober? How many failed attempts does an alcoholic need to go through before they finally make sobriety stick? In my case, the answer is seven years and more attempts than I can remember. I…