i was in a hotel room, hanging out, reading about writing fiction, and in the book there was this question about what is your WHY.
now, generally i hate these questions.
but i started thinking about it in terms of 'why do i do this sober work' ... or more specifically, why have i been doing this sober stuff for 10 years (soberversary coming in 19 days!).
and WOW does this audio get deep!
the why.
the REAL why.
And in this audio I tell you the story of the 12-year-old.
[ link removed ]
Sober Podcast 482. Saving the 12-year-old
To download the entire audio, you can use the link below.
Hopeful62 is worried that her relationship with her husband will change if she is longer-term sober. She emailed me about having defined roles in a relationship, and how being sober might changes things (presumably in a bad way).
So my reply? Well it includes a bit of: What if the changes are positive? What if we evolve into a better version of ourselves? Slightly less irritated, slightly less anxious. You may have better boundaries and speak up for yourself more. These aren’t bad things 🙂
And then I say this quote, but you'll have to listen to the audio to find out why... “I don’t give a shit for a millisecond what my husband thinks of croissants.”
This link has been removed. If you are a podcast subscriber on or before February 15th, you'll get this audio in your podcast library. hugs, belle xo
Sober Podcast 412. Do Our Relationships Change When We're Sober?
You can leave a comment below, anonymous is fine. You can tell me if you heard anything new ...
Sign up for the podcast subscription (1-2 new full-length audios each week, you can cancel whenever you like ... but you won't. more sober tools = good)
This is an audio clip from Sober Podcast #215. I did a personalized audio for a subscriber about fear, defensiveness, rationalizations. And it’s also about the incongruent idea of drinking — how having alcohol in your life wouldn’t match up with what you say, and who you say you are. You can listen to this clip from the audio, and then send me a comment.
If you’d like to listen to the whole thing, you can use the link to download link at the bottom of this message.
Question: In what way is drinking incongruent with who you say you are?
This is one of the first paintings Mr.Belle did, back before i started putting them on the site. this is a RARE example of early work … Exit the situation. If booze is an elevator that only goes down, then you EXIT. Now would be a good time. You were looking for a sign? Here’s your sign.…
new painting posted this is #614: Exit link here > www.artsober.com
thanks for your support, it means so much! at one painting per day, that’s enough to keep the lights on …
this week’s sunday audio is about changing things to get different results. imagine you were cold and wanted to get warm. would you remove the blankets that you already have, or would you add new blankets—new layers of supports? being sober is just like this. adding layers of things to get new outcomes. in this audio i talk about something i read this week by Sean McCabe on the subject of habits and outcomes, and how it maps exactly to how we can change our approach to being sober.
show notes:
the blog post about habits by Sean McCabe (seanwes). link here
the music, “Ibiza Dream,” thanks to Chris Haugen. link here
the photo for ‘adding blankets of support’ thanks to The Bees. link here
the unedited version of today’s audio, where i talk about ‘across the pond’, my plans for an extended rant, and the idea of naming these audios ‘clutch/fart’ will be sent in its entirety to podcast subscribers. link here
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original art, thanks to mr.belle you have potential when you’re sober this is a close-up of painting #589 click link here
email from P (yesterday): “Shit. Reset me. Today is day 1 again. I’m glad that I made this decision to take Antabuse, but I’m also kind of disappointed that I can’t deal with Wolfie the way you did it. I’m sure that you felt a tremendous amount of empowerment that I just don’t feel right now. But that plan hasn’t worked for me lately. And I’m sure that as the sober days continue, I’ll rely more on my good decisions than the negative consequences of some drug that I’m on. I just have to be patient with myself and my own journey.”
my reply (yesterday):I can reset you. antabuse is a great medication. you can take it for a full year. and then get away from day 1 and feel way better.
wollfie will suggest that you compare your sobriety to mine or someone else’s.
the empowerment part comes in being sober, not in the HOW you’re sober. that confusion is definitely wolfie.
that’d be like saying “you must like your children better when you do natural childbirth in a cave alone instead of in a hospital with appropriate medication…”
that’d be like saying “you must like your marathon better because you did it crawling instead of walking.”
doesn’t matter HOW we do the things.
that’d be like saying “you must like your law degree more because you did it in 4 years instead of 5.”
bullshit 🙂 don’t let wolfie walk around in there with that kind of nonsense.
the goal is to be SOBER. the HOW is irrelevant and trivial. the goal is to be sober 🙂
new painting posted there is NO auction and the new payment processor seems to be working well (hooray). and should hopefully be faster/easier than ever before (!). link > www.artsober.com
this is an extract from the live show i recorded on monday about managing our MOOD when sober. the full episode is being sent to podcast subscribers today and tomorrow.
from N: “I missed the live show – would love to catch up with it but I’m not currently subscribed to the podcasts. Is this something you might put up as a stand alone purchase?”
me: 🙂 well the live show was 2 hrs long, and so will be split into 3-4 podcasts. it might be cheaper to be a podcast subscriber than get them as singles. a subscription would give you 8-ish audios in a month and the subscription is only $26.21/month versus the stand alone price of $5 each (x 8 = $40) … huglets
update from yesterday’s email When I sent out the email inviting you to read and stay plugged-in to your sober stuff, here are some of the replies:
My sobriety is important. I am important. Doing this one small thing every day keeps me motivated. Some days they help more than others. Some days, I think I am fine and I don’t need any help. But even then, the help never hurts. Other days, I find there is something in your message that turned out to be exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. Thank you for doing what you do, it helps many more than I think you realize.
I pledge to open every email from you and click on a link in each email between now and January 2. Because drifting is dumb … I’m going to remember that in terms of my sobriety the only thing that’ll change is my location during the holidays, so I do just the same things while I’m away as I do at home – all my sober supports and treats.
I am on day 2 and doing ok … I’m also caregiver to our 33-year-old daughter who has Cerebral Palsy. Stressful, so I’ve been drinking too much. Need to stop for her. Your daily inspiration really helps. Thanks for your unique insight and humor.
I will open every email you send with gratitude, from now until Jan 2nd, because it is fucking amazing knowing that someone cares enough about me to send daily emails, with links to sober supports. I will click on the links to those sober supports too, even if I don’t buy anything. Because I want you to know I appreciate you and I appreciate you reaching out to me by emails, I need these emails to remind me that what I’m doing is important.
I pledge to not only open but also read every line of every sober email that you send to me between now and January 2nd, 2039. If Belle cares enough to take the time to send them, then Heather will care enough to set up an alert on my phone with a special Belle ringtone alert when an email arrives from you. I will open and read your sober emails, not just preview them on my phone because there is no point in just previewing them, I wouldn’t see the whole encouragement and strength message that may come at just the right moment (this whole just the right message at just the right time thing occurs regularly), but also, by just previewing them, it could possibly be used by my bit of drinking head that still exists as an excuse to put snowshoes on and walk 10 miles to the nearest shop that sells booze. I have purchased 2 gig extra data to do this, as I am spending the season alone (dog is invited) in a log cabin in the mountains of North Wales… no wifi within 25 miles of me. I cannot guarantee a signal, but I will walk a maximum of 2 miles to find one- this is my Christmas effort gift to you. I also pledge to click and see where the mysterious link in each email will lead me to, but I cannot promise I will not buy anything. I want to show you Belle that i’m out there, in between the mountains on one side and the sea on the other side of me, relaxing alone, still sober even when I get mad when I will inevitably understand what I have been missing out on for the last 7 years. I’ll open and read your emails and click a link every day between now and January 2nd 2039. There is no reason whatsoever good enough on this fucking earth that I will happen to not be sober, so I am skipping that part of the pledge..but to make you happy, I will promise you that if for some stupid, made-up, idiotic and most likely death inducing reason i happen to not be sober, i will still open and read your emails to me and click on your link that you made an effort to provide everyday. Because I know that drifting from my sober supports is setting myself up on purpose, giving myself a slightly nudged open door to make up an excuse to drink; and not giving this babygirl the self love she deserves, and therefore, i will need to be engaged more. I owe it to myself first and foremost, and to you because of all of your efforts to try to get me to come to your side of the mountain to at least let you know that I’m still here. Still alive. Still sober.
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“I have potential when i’m sober” sober art, thanks to mr.belle artsober.com
this is an original painting, so there’s only one copy available. link
I was interviewed for the Iconic Moms podcast on November 23, 2019 by Alex, a very thoughtful. I am happy to be episode #17 on her new-ish show, and I think this interview is a good primer to learning about being sober. As well, I think that Alex is sharing brave things, as you’ll hear in this interview. To listen to other episodes of her show, you can go here.
But I want you to hear the whole audio NOW, even if you’re not a podcast subscriber.
So I’ve loaded the entire audio in the free audio feed (itunes/android).
[ link removed ]
The full audio will be available for 10 days. Go and listen to the first few minutes. Listen in installments. Or get a cup of tea and do it all at once. There’s something in here for you. I’m sure of it.
hugs and happy saturday
Something New (day 140): “Amazing how fast those magnets sell. I feel like it will be like winning a jackpot when one is available. I want one!!!! I particularly like the ones with the aqua color in them. He must be so happy!”
LARGE magnets acrylic & ink, handcut card stock 7.5 x 7.5 cm (3″ x 3″)
alcohol is not required. not for summer. not for winter. not for fridays. not for sunday afternoons. that you have a brain that thinks that drinking is a good idea, is wolfie. and you know what? wolfie will MAKE UP reasons, to make drinking seem like a good idea, including the weather. oh look it’s snowing? drink. oh look it’s summer? drink. all untrue. drinking is not required for any event. for any weather. for any day. when you hear from wolfie, you can remind him that he’s a bastard anus. tell him i said so. tell him i said that it gets easier as you go along, too. tell him that.
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this painting is available at auction. opening bid $5. three days to bid. short auction 🙂
small notes about summer #2
that voice in your head (wolfie) is an equal-opportunity offender. he has the ability to take any nice situation (beach, pool, bbq) and suggest it would be NICER if you poured alcohol on your head. As if adding an anaesthetic, mis-remembering the evening, tripping, bruising, crappy sleeping, and a hangover is any part of fun. You know what makes a pool, bbq, beach nicer? Being able to remember it. Waking up in the morning and feeling proud of yourself. That.
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so for this painting, i figured i could write a secret message and then cover it up with paint … you’ll know there’s an extra, private, meaning under there. just for you.
NOTE: The word ‘HOPE’ will be added to this painting tomorrow, after it is dry.
link > hope 19 size is 10″ x 10″ (25 cm x 25 cm) acrylic on hand-cut 3 mm card belle. selling hope since 2012
