Tag Archives: laughter

The Four Hour Benchmark – Partying Sober

I was always a good four hour drinker. If I had a glass of wine or two getting ready and a roadie for liquid courage, I’d arrive at the party with a little buzz and about four hours until the witching hour, when I sneaked out the back door. I was famous for ghosting. I’d hit that […]

Why are Weddings Triggers for Alcoholics?

Remember the movie where Sandra Bullock gets drunk at her sister’s wedding, steals the limo and crashes into a house? I am going to a wedding today, and I do not intend to do that. Nor do I expect to drink up the dregs of liquor left by tablemates when they get up to dance. I won’t go to […]

Gratefulness, Optimism and Positive Thinking – The Trifecta of Wellbeing

I think, for the most part, I am a positive person. I have been reading lately, about the power of positivity (nothing new), and how optimism impacts recovery from addiction. When you get out from under the obvious negatives of substance use and look at the positive aspects of a sober life, there is a marked increase in long term success. It […]

Found on Facebook – 5 Ways to Explain the Drunk Years…

Whatever happened to unlisted phone numbers and secrets? I heard from an old boyfriend the other day. Does anybody else get Facebook private messages, where people you haven’t heard from in years start a conversation without preamble? I have now had every past relationship of merit check in with me on social media. It reminds me […]

Plow Horse Therapy

I’m not talking about Equine Therapy, folks. A few weeks ago, I was at an old-fashioned country fair in Ellsworth, Michigan and they had what was billed as a “horse pull” in a park on the outskirts of town. If you have never seen a horse pull before, it involves teams of enormous, draft horses; […]

Put Down the Camera and Enjoy Your Sobriety Real-Time…

By looking into the photos on my phone I can see that I am walking in the woods…   …Marilyn. Recently, I have noticed I am so busy trying to capture how awesome I have become, now that I’m sober, my phone or camera seems to get a better experience than I do. It started with the […]

Recovery Question Number 1: Are You Happy?

Last night on the phone (after we dealt with yet another unintelligible crisis in her young life) Ellie asked me, “Miss Marilyn, are you happy?” I think that may be my new favorite interview question. It stopped me in my tracks. Recently, I have gotten comments from people who tell me my life in recovery finally […]

Don’t You Want Your Badass Friends to be Sober?

  Kim sent me an aphorism this weekend. It was about the kind of friend I am – a cowgirl, blasting through a door with a shovel and a plan. I am that kind of friend and I have always been good in an emergency. The adage also mentions whiskey and the fact that some friends […]

8 Reasons to Give a Wide Berth to the Summer Booze Cruise…

  I didn’t realize it was the first time I had been on a boat since I’ve been sober, until I was on a boat looking at the big white cooler that, on most watercraft, holds cold beer and wine… It was the first time in three years I was going for a boat ride that wasn’t a […]

Tricking Yourself Sober – GO LEFT!

  I have two stories about going left, and one conclusion: Story One I was in a therapy group one time, and a woman said that if she was driving down the street toward her house and the light was green on a certain street, she’d “go left” and drive past the ABC Liquor store. Of […]