Category: Writing

For the last year or more my little made-up eye has been staring out at you from behind a ripped piece of paper. The response to my avatar is always mixed; sometimes it makes people feel uncomfortable, sometimes it generates questions (the latest one being “Who did your make up?”) and others still greet it […]

The First Step “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.” It sounds so simple, but it is the toughest of steps for any alcoholic to take, whether that alcoholic chooses the path of a 12 step programme or not. Yet, this step is key to any alcoholic getting and […]

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.” It sounds so simple, but it is the toughest of steps for any alcoholic to take, whether that alcoholic chooses the path of a 12 step programme or not. Yet, this step is key to any alcoholic getting and staying sober. For […]

Lying Embellishing the truth Exaggerating Little white lies Withholding information Whatever you choose to call it, however you try to justify it and whatever your motivation – a lie is a lie. Discuss. As a young child I was discontent with my lot. I wanted to be different, exciting – my life didn’t compare to […]

When I got sober I bought sobriety books like I used to buy alcohol – obsessively. In the first few months I rapidly built up a little sobriety library, very few of them were ever read completely, many more not touched at all, but I somehow felt that owning them would make me better. Then […]

I felt rather smug at the beginning of lockdown. After all, I had my 12 step programme and I was totally prepared for ‘keeping it in the day’ and accepting what I could and couldn’t change; what could possibly go wrong? Evidently, this 12 step programme only works if you actually do the work! Who […]

By @SobrietyMatt Coronavirus lockdown day number…….who knows, they are all pretty similar! Still, amongst the pain of familial separation, toilet paper rationing and house-arrest, some good things have emerged from all of this insanity. For me one of the most significant positives has been the creation of the nightly @RecoveryHour Zoom meeting. A cross-fellowship group […]

Accepting the limits and handing things over was once impossible for this control-freak alcoholic. Today things are very different. By @SobrietyMatt Yesterday was a tough day. We are all under immense pressure during these pandemic conditions, coping with lockdowns, struggling to find supplies, losing employment, losing focus – the list is endless. Yet those of […]

Isolating for the Isolator Contributed by @SobrietyMatt As the world grinds to a halt and locks down, this isolator has some advice. This time last year I was drinking. Not right at this time of day (currently 11am) because I wasn’t that type of drunk, I would start only once the children were in bed. […]