Welcome to Built By Sobriety
Living alcohol-free is simply the best life hack there is, even if you don't think you have a "problem".
We need to talk about drinking and why it’s keeping you stuck…even if you don’t think your drinking is a problem.
Ok look, full transparency, my drinking was a problem. It was a big problem for a couple of decades. And here’s the thing…I wasn’t a daily drinker, I am college educated with a good job, and from the outside, things looked just fine. But, for me, they were anything but fine because whenever I drank, I took it too far, and often, bad things happened.
This may not be you in any way. You may not lose your mind anytime alcohol hits your system. But what you are losing is the ability to remain fully present with yourself and those around you. You’re harming your mental and physical health, because research now shows that zero alcohol is the recommended amount of alcohol. You’re potentially also impacting your ability to rise and succeed beyond your expectations.
Why this, why now??
I’ve been openly sharing on Instagram since 2020 about how substance abuse shaped my life, and for those of you who follow me there, you know how passionate I am about eliminating the stigma of addiction. My goal has always been to be as tranparent as possible in efforts to reach others who have been where I have been and help them to recognize that they are not alone.
I felt the need to join this space so that I can share more of the details of my life in addiction, like how it impacted relationships, how I operated as an employee, and memories of what it was like to be a mom who suffered with Substance Use Disorder. In short, I want to be able to talk more about my story and give more details about how addiction looks first hand. I want others to know what it’s really like inside the world of someone who is addicted. I also want to share how things look now for me, at 5 years sober, and revelations that have come since I began doing the real work of staying sober.
Finally, even if drinking has never caused you to be arrested, lose a relationship, or question your sanity, I want to offer up nuggets of information that may push you to start your own journey of living without alcohol, because, honestly, it is simply robbing you of the present moment.
Let’s create a community where there is no taboo over where we have been or what we have done. Shame keeps us in the dark.
If you are in the recovery space already, you recognize just how important it is to have others to lean on who understand what you have been through. My first taste of this was in AA, which was recommended by my counselor. I learned a lot from the women who surrounded me in those meetings…and then, the pandemic hit. I was already in a headspace that was leading me away from AA, but when C0VID shut everything down, the reality of just how important others were to a personal sobriety journey really struck me.
Here, I will be sharing even more personal details of my life in and after addiction. I hope that you will feel pulled to share in the comments if what I talk about resonates. I hope that you will feel comfortable to ask questions if something doesn’t make sense or if you are going through something similar. I want this to be a safe and comfortable space.
What can you expect?
One big post a week. This may be personal story sharing, it could be new info coming from the scientific community regarding addiction or other related topics, or it might be a mash up. I will try to link it to something I have shared on my Instagram (@kelz_living_well), but that won’t always be the case.
A weekly open thread where we’ll channel our collective wisdom into common struggles or challenges that go hand in hand with getting sober and staying that way. I’ll also share links to articles I find that may be of interest.
Subscribe now for $6/month if you would like to support my writing. That being said, as I am just starting this venture and plan to utilize this space as an extension of my IG, all content will be free for now. Nothing will have a paywall. If this changes at some point, paying subscribers would get access to more content.
