There’s been a spate of sobriety memoirs lately. One could easily zone out and think, oh, another story about someone getting sober.
I say BRING THEM ON! Reading about the impact of addiction and about how the hell one breaks free of it should be the norm. These stories serve to change the narrative about drinking. It’s not benign. It’s an epidemic, in the US at least. The dominant message is: Drinking is good, it’s fun and by god, you deserve it!
Not always true. Laura McKowen’s memoir, We Are the Luckiest, re-writes this narrative. She asserts that people who don’t drink, who stop drinking, are the lucky ones. Not people who can drink with impunity, or for whom the consequences aren’t obviously dire.
I got sucked into Laura’s story. Her honest, clear writing is a wake-up call for those of us who need these stories of success. Addiction is no joke and it’s not easy to get sober. But I believe that the more stories we see about people who are doing it and thriving absolutely contributes to making the shift to sobriety hopefully an easier process.
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