Spilling the Tea on Being One Year Sober

In three days I will hit a milestone: one year sober. Over the past 362 days, I haven’t had a single alcoholic beverage. No painkillers, no Diet Coke, no antihistamines. Anyone who follows this up with “no fun” can fuck off to rehab, because I’m not here for that noise. Yes, even sober I’m still working on my anger issues. The difference now is that I’m looking my bullshit in the eye.

What I’ve Learned While Sober

• I don’t miss drinking. I thought it was going to be hard, but I’m lucky that I wasn’t addicted.
• My real friends are happy to do sober activities with me. Like write! If I surround myself with the right people, nothing is too difficult to take on.
• It’s not selfish to put myself first. Self care for the win.
• Pain subsides a lot more quickly when I’m not dulling the days with booze.
• I need to re-establish a better connection between mind and body.

What I’ve Gained Over the Past Year

• I don’t smell like a rotting sugar cube anymore.
• I can go more than two days without washing my hair and it still doesn’t reek like death.
• No hay fever, even without antihistamines.
• I am much calmer. I don’t go into an emotional tailspin every other day over dumb stuff like awkward interactions or slow walkers during rush hour.
• I finally got around to all those repairs I was avoiding and now I’m never leaving my apartment again.
• My eyes look really clear. I think my liver hated me before.
• No weekends ruined by hangovers.
• The spark to make things again. This blog is my way back to storytelling, to fiction.

The takeaway? I don’t need to drink. I’m serving clearheaded realness all the time and I love it.