Folks, I feel terrible that I haven't posted for a while, nor have I replied to your fabulous comments on recent posts. I'm so sorry.
I have been horribly busy getting the children back to school (I managed to get them there on the right day this time - whoop whoop!) and with my Big Project - announcement to follow on Thursday...
By way of an apology, here are two great radio programmes for you:
The first is a Radio 4 play called The Red by the recovering alcoholic, Marcus Brigstocke.
The hero of the play, Benedict, is given a letter from his father on the day of his father's funeral. His father, a huge wine connoisseur, leaves his alcoholic son a very special bottle of red and asks him to drink it. Benedict has been sober for 25 years. Find out what he does.
Click here to listen.
Huge thanks to 'Just the Tonic' for the brilliant recommendation.
The second programme was also on Radio 4, and is called The Fix. Three teams of bright, creative young people are given the task of looking for ways to get the British population to drink less.
Great to see this topic being covered in mainstream media in such an interesting way.
Click here to listen.
Happy listening, and please drop by on Thursday for the Big News.
Love SM x
Don't feel bad!!! Your amazing and all the time you've put into this blog and the people you have helped is somthing to feel proud of, never feel bad! Hey none of us have enough hours in the day, I know I don't! I cnt wait for the BIg News!!! :-)))))) xxxx
ReplyDeleteOh how exciting! Roll on Thursday. Kids have been back at school here in Scotland since mid August!!
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed The Red very cleverly mastered clearly demonstrating that daily internal conflicting battle i have going on in my head. With marriage in recovery i have agreed to cut down my drinking. With having nearly lost the person who loves me the most in the world I thought this would be easy but it's not. I tried the alcohol free wine - it's not for me - all that happened is that it allowed me to masquerade the real red and the non-alcoholic one. I may have fooled my long suffering husband but I haven't fooled me. The alcohol trap is so deceptive that I even want to celebrate small non-drinking triumphs with a drink!! I drink to relax, to celebrate to eat, to watch TV, to socialise like so many other friends but it's only me who has the problem that leaves me feeling helpless and isolated. Alcohol has degraded my image of me, eaten away at me self-worth, left me depressed and damaged my closest relationships not to mention my career. You'd think that would be enough to turn down the volume on the beast but day 1 has me feeling tetchy, anxious and withdrawn. Today is day 2 and I feel like my throat is closing over this is similar to the feeling I had years ago when giving up cigarettes - what's that about?? I feel this situation is hopeless and I know I have everything to lose.
ReplyDeleteYou CAN do this Stillstuck! It is exactly like quitting smoking. The first 100 days are tough - just take it one day at a time and be good to yourself. Check out my page 'advice for Newbies'. We're with you! Xxx
DeleteAwwww, lousy that you are having a rough, tough time of it. But - you are not alone! It can be done! White knuckles are all the rage! (Well, ok, i made that up from nowhere...) Please try to stick it out....and just read the post right below yours....she's all the way to Day 40! And you can get there, too! Onward!
DeleteThank you Claire and Northwoman1966 for your kind words of support. I take courage from stories such as EW's and the fact I'm not alone xx
DeleteDear SM (and her lovely followers),
ReplyDeleteToday is my day 40. I have a somewhat different profile from much of this lil' community, but I am a 35 year old gal who lost herself to all kinds of alcohol over the last ten years, and did some stupid, embarrassing, and despicable things in the process.
I limped through the first three weeks of this venture almost totally alone... but for Unpickled, Mrs. D, and you, SM. Instead of drinking and thinking about drinking (who am I kidding, I haven't stopped thinking about that yet), I devoured all the resonant, prescient, heart-wrenching words each of you had to offer, in turns laughing out loud and crying quietly (albeit sometimes violently) in my office at work, wrapping myself in a blanket of wisdom and lessons from those who have gone before. I have breathlessly tracked the progress of the journeys of your amazing followers, cheering for successes and holding out hope for those who have struggled. Recently I have begun developing some in person support resources, but sobriety blogs have been the "thing" that has kept me sane through these first weeks.
And here I am, on your most recent entry, feeling some feelings I can't quite nail down, but that I think fall in the category of bittersweet. As a tried-and-true binger of most things I enjoy, it's hard to accept that I now have to adjust to the pace of living in the present with timelines over which I cannot exert control. Which is a round-about way of saying that I have loved every moment of reading your story, and I feel a bit sad now that I'm all caught up and have to learn how to consume your posts like a normie. ;)
I know I have so very far to go, but I also know that I would not be where I am today without the corners of the sobersphere that I have explored so far - yours being one of the most influential and important.
So thank you, from the bottom of my currently sober heart.
Sincerely,
EW, a little ball of gratitude in Philadelphia, PA
Hello EW, and a huge virtual hug to you for being so brave and for sharing your story. You are not alone. We have all been where you are now and we are all rooting for you. It WILL get easier! Love SM x
DeleteIf red wine is/was your drink of choice and you're trying to be AF or in the early days of sobriety I would really avoid the Radio 4 play linked above "The Red". I found it incredibly triggering:(
ReplyDeleteSorry Catherine, and many thanks for sharing the health warning!
DeleteNo probs! It was the sound of that cork!! Bit nostalgic but that was yester year, today's today :) xx
ReplyDelete