Share your latest or greatest article: Put the topic in all CAPS, describe what it’s about in a sentence or five, and include the URL. (See my examples in the comments.)
Find someone in the comments whose topic interests you: Head over to their article, read it, and leave a comment. Also reply to them here to let them know and say hello.
And/or: Find someone on SoberStack™, leave a comment on one of their articles, and share that article with us here—perhaps saying why you liked it. (SoberStack™ is an annotated directory featuring 117 writers spanning diverse backgrounds and paths of recovery.)
Bonus: Re-stack any or all of the above on Notes (Substack’s social media platform, for anyone unfamiliar).
Before jumping in, a small request: Please tap the little ♡ to offer the gift of “social proof” and bring some extra brightness to my Monday.
P.S. If you’re new here, welcome!
Sober Soulful offers a safe, expansive space for folks:
In recovery from or examining their relationship with alcohol and other drugs, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive patterning, online technologies and social media, overwork, perfectionism, external validation, fucked-up relationships, etc.
Seeking an intimate, personal exploration of addiction, sobriety, and being human
Not sober? Not a problem!
Don’t feel as though you need to identify as an addict, sober, sober curious, or in recovery to hang out here. If you follow me a while, you’ll learn pretty quick how I feel about conventional narratives, boxes, and labels.*
The 2,200+ member community at Sober Soulful is wonderfully diverse, and I hold recovery and sobriety in a living, breathing, ever-changing way—one that’s expansive, inclusive, and quintessential human. (And we’re all human here, still figuring it out.)
*Caveat: I do ask folks to please not promote drinking alcohol in this space.
Thank you. I appreciate you. I’m grateful you’re here. Dana
P.P.S. If you’re considering a paid subscription to Sober Soulful, March is my birthday month! To celebrate, I’m running a small sale on annual memberships:
SHAMING OTHERS, SERVICE, MAKING MONEY IN RECOVERY :: I wrote this essay in response to a commenter who shamed me for offering a paid option here at Sober Soulful. I explore the principle of “service” in recovery, as well as the wiser, more beautiful response I plan to offer next time.
PHOTOS, BODY IMAGE, SOBRIETY :: Susie Middleton shares how she’s outgrown self-consciousness around having her photo taken and how this relates to her work in sobriety. She also shares beautiful photos plus pro tips for getting great cover shots, branding photos, etc. https://susiemiddleton.substack.com/p/cover-girl-flower-girl
More generally, I highly recommend Susie’s substack! She writes about finding serenity in nature and navigating long-term sobriety with tools and lessons learned while growing flowers and food, cooking, and spending time outdoors on her island home in Martha’s Vineyard. Her tapestry of nature, creativity, and sobriety is pure delight. ❤️
OVERCOMING EXHAUSTION, WELL-BEING, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S STEALING YOUR ENERGY:
Our physical energy is the most important thing because if we are drained it becomes much harder to move the needle of our life out of autopilot into recovery or some other kind of meaningful existence., This is a piece I wrote a while ago about how to address that aspect of our well-being.
(Thank you Dana for this lovely community endeavor!)
SLOWING DOWN, HONORING YOUR DESIRES, DROPPING EXPECTATIONS: This piece shares the myriad of reasons why I'm at a stage of my life where in order to maximize myself I need to minimize everything else. It invites the reader to think about how when we slow ourselves down enough to listen to our true wants (the ones that we distract ourselves from following or even feeling because of all the doing we do) we can land in our integrity.
In this post I share what I learned in navigating the choice to live alcohol-free (and long-term dimmer-free, it's an ongoing effort) and a bit of the context around how I got there. I still apply this framework daily both in my own experience and in supporting others... and am shaping the work into a book, which excites the hell out of me.
Thank you, ever fun & inclusive Dana! I love discovering new human-writers here. ❤️
MANAGING YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS: I wrote about a simple phrase that I find helpful when I feel overwhelmed that I am not doing it ALL. It goes like this: Work. Family. Scene. Pick 2. It really helps me settle. In the essay I also share some of my favorite things about our recent family trip to Portland.
A UTOPIAN VISION OF MENTAL HEALTH: PART I --- I am passionate about mental health awareness and understanding the system we all navigate to access proper wellness supports. Having gone through my own long and arduous journey within public mental healthcare, dealing with addictions, trauma, anxiety, and more throughout my life, I was compelled to write an article about what an idealistic version of such a system would look like. This turned into a lot more than I expected, so I made it a multipart series that will continue next Sunday. In this one I explore the history of the DSM, foundations of a "utopian" mental healthcare regime, and some opinions on psychiatry, diagnoses and medication.
CAN I GET A WITNESS? This piece was inspired by the hunger I feel in so many, especially in these isolating divisive times, to be truly heard and listened to without judgement or fixing. I explore the special gift of total presence, of 'being with' another wherever they are...and invite us to offer that to others, not only in the healer or therapist's office. https://ellenanneshapiro.substack.com/p/can-i-get-a-witness
How I became a people pleaser, my pride in being a people pleaser, realizing that it's a symptom of my codependency, and living with my people pleasing tendencies.
SHAMING OTHERS, SERVICE, MAKING MONEY IN RECOVERY :: I wrote this essay in response to a commenter who shamed me for offering a paid option here at Sober Soulful. I explore the principle of “service” in recovery, as well as the wiser, more beautiful response I plan to offer next time.
https://danaleighlyons.substack.com/p/the-commenter-who-shamed-me-recovery-writing
PHOTOS, BODY IMAGE, SOBRIETY :: Susie Middleton shares how she’s outgrown self-consciousness around having her photo taken and how this relates to her work in sobriety. She also shares beautiful photos plus pro tips for getting great cover shots, branding photos, etc. https://susiemiddleton.substack.com/p/cover-girl-flower-girl
More generally, I highly recommend Susie’s substack! She writes about finding serenity in nature and navigating long-term sobriety with tools and lessons learned while growing flowers and food, cooking, and spending time outdoors on her island home in Martha’s Vineyard. Her tapestry of nature, creativity, and sobriety is pure delight. ❤️
THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF UNCOVERING LIMITING BELIEFS: Limiting beliefs may be lurking in our subconscious. Becoming aware of them can unlock new potential for growth and healing. I recently became aware of one of mine and share it in this article. https://open.substack.com/pub/jenniferleahmiller/p/the-life-changing-magic-of-uncovering?r=2f9qjk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
OVERCOMING EXHAUSTION, WELL-BEING, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S STEALING YOUR ENERGY:
Our physical energy is the most important thing because if we are drained it becomes much harder to move the needle of our life out of autopilot into recovery or some other kind of meaningful existence., This is a piece I wrote a while ago about how to address that aspect of our well-being.
(Thank you Dana for this lovely community endeavor!)
https://open.substack.com/pub/donnamcarthur/p/tips-to-elevate-your-energy?r=1z0b1o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
SLOWING DOWN, HONORING YOUR DESIRES, DROPPING EXPECTATIONS: This piece shares the myriad of reasons why I'm at a stage of my life where in order to maximize myself I need to minimize everything else. It invites the reader to think about how when we slow ourselves down enough to listen to our true wants (the ones that we distract ourselves from following or even feeling because of all the doing we do) we can land in our integrity.
https://open.substack.com/pub/allisonderaney/p/what-you-want-wants-you?r=rkt4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
TGIF :: THE EIGHT AWARENESSES, Genesis, overview, and implementation of a stigma-free path to transformation with intention, choice, and grace: https://cecilymak.substack.com/p/tgif-the-eight-awarenesses
In this post I share what I learned in navigating the choice to live alcohol-free (and long-term dimmer-free, it's an ongoing effort) and a bit of the context around how I got there. I still apply this framework daily both in my own experience and in supporting others... and am shaping the work into a book, which excites the hell out of me.
Thank you, ever fun & inclusive Dana! I love discovering new human-writers here. ❤️
MANAGING YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS: I wrote about a simple phrase that I find helpful when I feel overwhelmed that I am not doing it ALL. It goes like this: Work. Family. Scene. Pick 2. It really helps me settle. In the essay I also share some of my favorite things about our recent family trip to Portland.
https://petya.substack.com/p/issue-41-work-family-scene-or-how?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
A UTOPIAN VISION OF MENTAL HEALTH: PART I --- I am passionate about mental health awareness and understanding the system we all navigate to access proper wellness supports. Having gone through my own long and arduous journey within public mental healthcare, dealing with addictions, trauma, anxiety, and more throughout my life, I was compelled to write an article about what an idealistic version of such a system would look like. This turned into a lot more than I expected, so I made it a multipart series that will continue next Sunday. In this one I explore the history of the DSM, foundations of a "utopian" mental healthcare regime, and some opinions on psychiatry, diagnoses and medication.
https://astralprojections.substack.com/p/a-utopian-vision-for-mental-health
Thanks for putting this thread together Dana!
GORILLA, TAKE THE WHEEL
I write about the Internal Family System Model of mental health. But, like, with gorillas.
https://open.substack.com/pub/gorisan/p/gorilla-take-the-wheel?r=2ofqif&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
CAN I GET A WITNESS? This piece was inspired by the hunger I feel in so many, especially in these isolating divisive times, to be truly heard and listened to without judgement or fixing. I explore the special gift of total presence, of 'being with' another wherever they are...and invite us to offer that to others, not only in the healer or therapist's office. https://ellenanneshapiro.substack.com/p/can-i-get-a-witness
CODEPENDENT PEOPLE PLEASING; "People Pleaser (The one about that time I put it on my resume. Yep. Sure did.)"
https://repurposedkate.substack.com/p/people-pleaser
How I became a people pleaser, my pride in being a people pleaser, realizing that it's a symptom of my codependency, and living with my people pleasing tendencies.