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Getting sober in a pandemic: one year alcohol-free
2020 will be a year that goes down in history, a year that no doubt will be etched (scarred?) into our memories. The things we learned, the things we lost, and the way our lives changed will stay with us forever. But while the coronavirus pandemic took center stage, when I reflect on my own year, there was so much more than that. There were the little wins and losses and the growth spurts that happen in any year. And there was one big change: 2020 was not only the year of the pandemic, but my first year of sobriety. I had my last alcoholic drink on December 22nd, 2019,…
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A new way to celebrate: a sober birthday in locked-down Los Angeles
I knew that I wanted this birthday to be different. I just didn’t know I would end up spending it in lockdown. A couple months ago I had the realization that I wanted to find a new way to celebrate my birthday this year. This would be the first birthday since I was a teenager that I wouldn’t be drinking alcohol, and I wanted to mark the occasion by doing something new. I started researching retreat centers and workshops. I saved up money and spent time obsessing over the best option. Then I found a songwriting retreat taking place in Ojai over my birthday weekend, and decided to put down…